The Art of Deception
by Agent-CheeseCake
Summary: Paradox is a young Autobot spy, eager to bring Cybertron to its much needed peace. She is tasked to work undercover as a low-ranking Con to gather as much information as possible. And everything was going well, until she was placed on the silent Communications Officer's radar. (OC/Soundwave).
1. Inception

**Hey guys! Back again with another story! You're just going to have to bear with me the first few chapters...I'm not used to writing Transformers fanfic without it being based on Earth or anything. This story takes place sometime in the beginning of the war. It's been going on for about 500 years...which is of course, not very long for Cybertronians.**

* * *

One: Inception

The violet femme stopped only a few inches away from the entryway, her twitching wings gave away how apprehensive she really was. It wasn't always a small, slim little lower-ranking saboteur like her was called to the great Prime's office. And no matter how hard she tried to focus on keeping a calm, proper demeanour, the nerves kept itching her wires and made her plating uncomfortably warm.

She forced her tightened armor to loosen, but only enough so that the gaps could allow in air to cool her systems before she glitched. She paused, and then cursed to herself as she felt the armor between her door wings get stuck. It happened frequently, especially since her door wings were protruding off her spinal strut from two different angles.

Grumbling lowly, the femme flexed her door wings back and forth, ignoring the slight discomfort from having the sensitive appendages rubbing against her armor. The hatch abruptly slid open, and the femme froze, caught like a cybercat in headlights.

When her cobalt gaze meet the Prime's curious one, her wings stood stiffly up straight, and embarrassed heat flushed her face plates.

"Prime!" She said with an undignified squeak, and then straightened, giving him a salute, "Soldier Paradox, reporting as requested, sir!"

Optimus watched her for a few astroseconds, before rumbling a deep, hearty chuckle that echoed around the empty halls. Paradox shot him a bewildered look, but the young Prime just kept chuckling, bending down to rest a servo on his knee bolts. Embarrassed even more, the violet femme brought her bright gaze down to the ground.

"S-Sorry, sir…"

When he stopped chuckling, Optimus straightened and cleared his throat, "It is quite alright, Paradox. I am satisfied. I haven't laughed in three joors." Then his gaze became serious, "But there is something I want to discuss with you. Please, come in."

Paradox followed the Prime through the hatch and into his spacious office. Datapads were stacked and strewn everywhere, along with holographs of Cybertron, Autobot propaganda, and surprisingly, charts of the lunar cycles. The femme raised a thin, optical ridge.

"I do like to study the stars," Optimus answered her silent question, "Astronomy is something I do in my past time, which unfortunately I do not have a lot of, as of lately."

He sat down in a large chair seated at the cluttered desk, and she sat down in a much smaller chair. She avoided his keen blue gaze, and stared down at her laced, clawed servos.

Optimus sighed, "There is no need to be anxious, Paradox. I am not going to admonish you."

"How can you tell I'm nervous?" She blurted out, before her processors could stop herself.

There was an amused glint to his optics, "Your wings. They stand still and straight when you are nervous."

"Oh." She muttered, after a minute and forced her wings flat against her spinal strut. Out of the embarrassment still clouding inside her, she managed to ask, "You requested me for duty, sir?"

"I have a mission for you," Optimus said with a nod, "It will be a long, challenging, and even quite dangerous mission. But I and your division's director have full confidence that you can complete it, _if_ you accept to do it."

 _If?_ Paradox repeated in her own processors. She was confused, but kept her facial features perfectly neutral. She inclined her helm slightly for him to elaborate.

Optimus leaned forward, "Paradox, the mission is to enlist in the Decepticon army. You will be working undercover for espionage. After this debriefing, your division director will give you the personal comm link that he and I will share with you. It is on such a frequency that I doubt even Soundwave could detect it. You will use this comm link to periodically relay any sensitive information back to us, and you will be on this mission for six orns." He paused, to let it all sink into the violet femme.

Paradox was too overwhelmed by the sudden information to realize her door wings had risen, and were twitching with thinly-veiled excitement. She couldn't believe it. Optimus Prime himself had put her on a mission, a dangerous, very important mission that will aid the Autobot cause.

Her spark fluttered with happiness, and she couldn't help the small curve of her lip-plates as she stared up at the young Prime. All she wanted to do, ever since she was a little sparkling, was to help and make a difference in this metal world currently filled with the pandemonium of war.

This was her chance. She'd be slagged if she'd said _no_.

She stood up from her seat, and bowed respectfully to the Prime as she was taught in training, "I would be honored to fulfill such a duty, Optimus Prime."

Unlike her, Optimus showed his smile, and stood up from his seat as well and bowed, "I am glad you are accepting such a daunting task. There are some higher-ranking bots I know that wouldn't have been able to accept this. You bring great service to the Autobot cause."

Her lip-plates curved even more, "This is a cause worth fighting for."

* * *

Paradox practically skipped into Retrobeam's berthroom, her door wings fluttering high above her helm. The white femme was reading a datapad when she looked up, anticipation in her pale blue optics.

"Well... what did he say?"

"I'm going on a mission!" Paradox squealed with glee, "A classified, highly important mission! The Prime himself debriefed me!"

Retrobeam's jaw nearly dropped to the floor, "Really?"

"Yes!" She yelped, bouncing on her pedes, "I just came back from installing a private comm link! I'm leaving to Kaon in a few orbital cycles!"

The white femme's smile faltered, "Wait, Kaon? Why are they taking you there?"

"My mission," she explained, "I'm going undercover. I'm enlisting in the Decepticon army and doing espionage for the Autobots! How great is that?"

"Nevermind great," Retrobeam said, putting the datapad away. A concerned look flashed in her optics, "They're putting you with Decepticons, as a spy? Do you know how dangerous that is? What they could do to you if they found out?"

Paradox frowned, "You're confidence in me is astounding."

"I'm serious Para," The white femme protested, "Not only is their leader a sadistic maniac, but ninety-eight percent of the army is mechs. _Savage_ mechs. How could they think this is a good idea?"

Paradox sighed, "I know you're concerned, but trust me, I know what I signed up for. I can handle it 'Beam. Primus knows I've done it before…" She trailed off, and a dark silence fell over the room as somber memories stirred up between the two of them.

Retrobeam finally gave a resigned sigh, "Okay, okay." She then crossed her arms over her large chest and grumbled, "But don't expect me to be so happy about it."

Paradox just grinned, "Please. I know you're happy, you just don't want to show it."

The white femme grinned as well, and with a knowing look she replied, "I'm not happy, but I _am_ proud. You worked your aft off to get here, and now you're finally being recognized for your talent and potential. And for that, I'll celebrate."

Retrobeam reached up to the cabinet above her berth and pulled out two cubes of sparkling highgrade. Normally, Paradox would refuse to drink, but this was on a special occasion. So she saddled herself right next to her best friend, and uncapped the cube. Retrobeam uncapped hers, and their cubs clinked.

"To Paradox," She said, and Paradox chuckled softly.

They put the cubes to their lip-plates, and drank.

* * *

 _( 3 orbital cycles later)_

Paradox followed the crowd of mechs through the dark tunnels of the cave. Her armor a shade darker than what it used to be, along with her optics, which were switched back to their soft yellow. The color she originally had before she became an Autobot. She tried to keep her wings perfectly still as she followed the eager, rambunctious mechs to the location of the assembly, which was taking place underground in an energon mine overrunned by Decepticons long ago.

It was, thankfully not very hard to blend in with the mechs all talking casually around her as they walked. She was much shorter than most of the mechs, so she used her height to slink easily between the bigger frames. Occasionally, she would go to rub at her chest, and realize that her proud, red Autobot sigil was no longer there. She of course had to have it removed before the mission, but it still had bothered her. So when Ratchet wasn't looking, she swiped the sigil off the counter and subspaced it.

She was a proud Autobot, and wanted to fight for the freedom Cybertron deserved. Megatron wanted to liberate Cybertron from the council, but then wanted to take their places as a dictator. If Paradox was strongly known for something, it would definitely be her low tolerance for rulers who control unwilling people. She knew what it was like, and that was why she became and Autobot.

 _Wham!_

Stars exploded as a sharp burst of pain rushed to her helm, and she groaned softly, holding in a pained hiss. She could hear the heavy pede-steps of the big frame that turned around to face her. He was about three times her size, and his optics were a dark green, to match his frame.

"Watch where you're slaggin' going, _runt_." He snarled in a thick, Kaonian accent. Just to enforce his statement, he harshly pushed her.

Because of the force, and her little frame, Paradox almost fell backwards if it wasn't for her impeccable balance. Her servos shot out to steady herself, and by the time the tunnel didn't feel like it was spinning, the green mech had snorted and walked away.

Now that he was gone, she could see the large stage that the mechs were all crowded around, still talking loudly. The stage was dimly lit with large lights, a tall podium in the middle of it. Using her advance perception, she scanned around the room. Once her scan was complete, she had a mental map of the large tunnels, which all ran directly to this room, which were also guarded with Decepticon soldiers. More mechs pooled out from the tunnels, entering the wide opening, and she decided to get herself comfortable.

It seemed like she was going to be here for a little while.

She flinched when she felt somebot touch her wings as he was pushing past her, and her clawed servos balled up into a fist. She wouldn't call being pressed up against, big, brawny mechs in an underground tunnel a great way to spend the evening. But it was her mission, and the eagerness drained away almost any apprehensive feelings she had.

Suddenly, pede-steps appeared on the stage, and most of the conversation in the room fell silent as two Cybertronians walked up onto the stage. One she recognized instantly as Starscream. The Seeker was the Air Commander of the Decepticon force, and also Second-In-Command. The flashy Seeker grinned at the mechs as they cheered for him while he approached the podium.

And then, there was the other one. Paradox wasn't so sure who we was, but if he was up there with Starscream, he must be high in the Con ranks. He was taller than the Air Commander, and very slender, with armor such a dark navy blue, it almost looked black. But what puzzled Paradox the most was his visor, that took up most of his face-plates. Sure Paradox had seen some mechs wear visors, her division director wore one, but she never had seen one so long and so large. It was as if he wanted his identity to be completely concealed, and this intrigued Paradox slightly.

Starscream had to stand on the top of his pedes for his voice to be even heard in the spacious chasm, and Paradox vaguely wondered why the podium was up so high.

"Good evening mechs," His scratchy voice rang out and echoed around the now silent chasm, "It is good to see so many eager to take on our Lord Protector's might cause. He will be very pleased. Now without further to do, I give you the mighty Megatron himself!"

The room suddenly went up in thunderous applause, roars, and cheers. Starscream grimaced for a moment, before stepping away from the podium as much _heavier_ steps filled the room. Paradox tensed, involuntarily reaching for her subspaced weapon, and having to force herself not to at the last second. The big, silver mech had appeared, and the mechs cheered even more.

The green mech she had bumped into was nothing compared to the size of Megatron. He was about the same size as Optimus, if not, even bigger. He was built with heavy, muscular armor, and as Paradox assessed her enemy, she grimaced at the large, sharp Decepticon symbol engraved in the middle of his broad chassis. She suddenly understood why the podium was up so high.

"Good mechs of Kaon," Megatron's deep voice rumbled within the chasm, "I know why you are here tonight. You were tired of the constant oppression, you were tired of the caste systems, you were tired of working long, strenuous joors of labor only to be paid in such little amounts. You were tired of being forced to go underground and mine for energon you can't consume, you were tired of fighting for the amusement of the snobbish upper class bots, you were tired of not being able to make something better of yourself, and you were tired of the fabricated lies that the council spewed! The Autobots are calling _that_ a Golden Age?" The crowd booed and roared with anger, "The Cybertronians of Kaon deserve much more than that! We have defeated the council, but the march to final freedom and peace is not yet over. The Prime is trying to destroy this peace-" more enraged cries- "He and his foolish Autobots don't understand because they do not _know_! They have not grown up experiencing all the hardships we had to, and they are ignorant! Join me fellow mechs, to the war for victory! These Autobots are the only thing that is standing in the way of you're future, of what you deserve! You all join me, and once this infernal war is over, we will have a _true_ Golden Age."

The crowd went absolutely wild. Cheering, and shouting, and praising Megatron's name as he backed away from the podium and his crimson optics swept over the crowd. Paradox was the only one not celebrating, and she felt worried. _Really_ worried.

If Megatron managed to overthrow the council, using the blind anger to convince these crowds, this war will be prolonged...and slightly more in Megatron's favor. There were more mechs in this chasm than there were Autobots, and that unnerved her. Her wings twitched as Starscream stepped up to the podium again, but by now Paradox wasn't listening. Her tanks rolled and she felt like she was about to purge.

Immediately, she pushed through the crowd of cheering mechs, keeping her wings flat to her back so that they weren't touched as much by the fists that rose in the air.

"Megatron! Megatron! Megatron!" They all shouted.

Their voices all rang in her processors, and she winced, slipping around another large mech before she managed to slip past a distracted guard. Her breaths were loud and heavy was she walked a few feet into the tunnel, before bending down to her knee joints to pant. She knew she would have to go back into the chasm, but for now, she just needed to catch her breath.

And while she was panting wildly, she didn't notice the spark signature near her until it was too late. Her helm snapped up to gaze at the mech with the large visor, and she froze. Her spark thrummed in panic as he silently stared down at her, and for a moment, she wondered if her cover was broken.

But he continued to wordlessly stared at her, to the point where it was becoming uncomfortable.

She brought herself up to her pedes, "I'm s-sorry, sir. I was just...looking for the chasm. This was a very long tunnel, and I got lost three times." She wanted to slap herself for the excuse, but it was the only one that came to processor.

The visored mech just stared at her for another cycle, until finally, he lifted a hand. Paradox tensed, ready to fight him if he attacked, but all he did was extend a dextrous finger to the way she had came.

Understanding what he meant, she nodded softly, "T-Thank you, sir."

He still didn't leave.

Turning on her pede, she walked back to the chasm, thoroughly bewildered by the mech's appearance. Unfortunately for Paradox, it wouldn't be the last time she met the laconic mech. No, it was only just the beginning.

* * *

 **Well? What do you think :)**


	2. Concurrence

**Thanks for the reviews, it's great to hear feedback on this story. Also thanks for the favs/follows!**

 **SunnySides: Yes, I agree. I have this slight obsession with Soundwave, and I really feel like there should be more stories about him! Thank you for the compliment, and as of now since I'm so hyped for this story, the updates will be every Wednesday.**

 **QueenOfTheSilver98: Thank you! I'm glad you like her.**

 **Lawnami7559: Thanks! You'll just have to stick around and find out ;)**

 **Also, I'm trying my hardest with Sounwave's speech. Because I know, at least in T-Animated, he was very silent and _rarely_ talked. Other than that, get ready for some more awkward interaction between Paradox and Soundwave. :)**

* * *

Two: Concurrence

Paradox groaned softly as the alarm inside her helm went off. She wanted to online early before any of the newly recruited soldiers so that she could have a joor of peaceful silence, and to scope around the place. The Decepticon fortress, as it turns out, was actually a warship, far off from Kaon and secluded in the mountains.

The lower-ranked, and newly recruited recharged together in small groups, their berths usually on top of each other, supported by metal rods, like a double berth of some sorts. But the violet femme was lucky enough to stumble upon an unused, small berthroom with nothing in it but a slab of metal pushed up against the wall. And after re-wiring the alarm system, and putting in a few more security codes, she felt safe enough to fall into a dreamless recharge that night.

Now she was up, stretching her servos over her helm while her door wings flexed up and down, trying to rid itself of the slight ache by sleeping on the hard berth. She stared somberly at her reflection in the window that overlooked the dusty terrain of the mountains. In that reflection, sharp, garnet optics looked back at her. Of course she was disgusted by the sight of the color, and the hate and violence it stood for made her want to claw her own optics out.

But this was her mission. Her _first_ real mission.

She had to focus, and be cautious and observant. She honestly feared screwing up the mission and disappointing her leaders more than the consequences of getting caught.

Paradox was almost tempted to pull her Autobot sigil out of her subspace, but thought it too risky. Because they were all new recruits, she was sure Megatron had set up cameras in their quarters, just to keep a perceptive optic on them. She wouldn't be surprised if she found one, she would do the same thing if in his position. Her servo ghosted across her chest, where the sigil laid untouched since she snatched it. And then she turned and exited her temporary berthroom, taking full advantage of the early joor.

She walked through the hallways, mindful to stick to the shadows to draw less suspicion. She had been wandering around for about a breem, memorizing the different routes she took. She was just turning the corner of the quiet warship, when her wings twitched ever so slightly as they picked up pede-steps and conversation. Her frame immediately tensed for a fight, but she had to disregard her battle protocols and looked around with wide, ruby optics. Suddenly, an idea struck her, and she moved swiftly towards the walls.

"...heard that he's working with Shockwave." A deep, and obviously mech, voice had said as he and his companion rounded the corner.

From the looks of it, they were both higher-ranking mechs. The taller mech was very bulky, with a sharp angled frame. His faceplates red as well as his servos, but the rest of his frame was either a dark blue or a steel gray. What threw her off was his yellow optics, much like her old color, that he had instead of the signature Decepticon red.

The mech walking beside him was much shorter, and very slim and sleek. His glistening red paintjob that covered his chassis, servos, helm, and pedes was about the same shade of his optics. He had a sinister upper class accent that made Paradox twitch, but she kept her claws rooted to the thick wires above her.

" _Eck,_ " The red mech cringed with obvious disgust, "Is he that creepy mech with the one optic?"

The bulkier one nodded, "Yep."

"Why would Megatron waste time with that science freak?"

The bulkier on shrugged, "Beats me. 'Screamer was talking about it in the lounge. Said they're creatin' some big nuclear weapon, the final product supposed to be done in a couple of orns."

The red mech's grimace turned into a wicked smirk, "Hm. It almost makes me want to pity those pathetic Autobots."

The bulkier one just shrugged, and they turned again, before they were out of sight. Paradox knew better, she waited until she could no longer hear their pede-steps, before her claws loosened their grip on the wires that ran across the ceiling, and she gracefully landed in a crouch, barely making a sound. After a moment, she straightened, filing the recorded conversation away in her processors and checked her internal chronometer.

She sighed. It would be almost time to report for training, something she definitely wasn't looking forward to. Turning on her pedes, she took a step only to crash into a hard, sturdy chassis. Once again, stars exploded in her optics, and she tried to stagger away, but a servo shot out and wrapped itself firmly around her wrist.

Alarmed, her optics shot open, and she stared up at the taller mech. Once she realized who it was, her optics widened in stupefaction.

It was _him_ again.

 _Frag._

Her plating tightened, and her wings froze. She opened her lip-plates to say something, but the stoic mech beat her to it.

"This location; restricted for recruits." His deep voice was dull and monotone, but it somehow made her spark flutter wildly under her chassis.

She was so caught up by his voice, that she almost forgotten what he had uttered.

"I'm so sorry, sir-"

"Officer Soundwave." He interrupted her.

She paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath, before continuing, "Officer Soundwave, I did not realize this area was restricted."

Soundwave didn't answer, and she could feel his stare through his dark visor. He knew of course, the little femme was lying. He saw her on camera, roaming the halls and slipping into the shadows when another bot walked through. But he didn't say anything about it, or the fact that he watched her record Breakdown and Knockout's conversation. He had his suspicions about this violet femme, who seemed to pop up in places she was not supposed to be, but kept them to himself. For now.

Meanwhile, Paradox was internally cursing at herself. _How_ could she not have picked up on his spark signature? Or even his pede-steps? But the biggest question that irked her processor is how he kept showing up coincidentally wherever she was. Or was it even a coincidence at all?

Could he be stalking her?

She resisted the urge to shiver at the idea. It surely wouldn't do well for her mission. She was cut out of her inner musings when she felt the grip on her wrist tightened slightly, just enough to get her attention again.

Soundwave cocked his helm slightly, "Femme have training?"

Paradox blinked for a moment, before realization dawned in on her. Her lip-plates parted, and she nodded, "Oh yes, exactly. The training." She tried to pull away, but his grip on her wrist would not budge.

Dread made her tanks roll, and she wondered if she would be punished for roaming restricted area. Suddenly, Retrobeam's words came back to her, hammering in her helm.

 _...Do you know how dangerous that is? What they could do to you if they found out?_

She tensed, expecting the worse to happen. A few strained astroseconds passed, before Soundwave finally let her wrist go. Paradox internally sighed in relief as the pressure was alleviated from her wrist, and the energon cycled freely in her wires again.

This time, it was Soundwave who turned and walked away.

* * *

By the time she arrived there, her chassis was heaving to cool down her systems. She walked through the hatch, and stiffened, but wiped any emotion clean from her face-plates. All the mechs in the room were staring at her with blazing red optics. Some with mild shock, some with skepticism, and some with lust. Paradox's plating flared in anger and disgust at that, but she quickly controlled her temper as a huge, bulky mech came up to her. His frame was an army green, that was packed from helm to pede with weapons, like blades and smaller guns. A heavy cannon sat on his shoulder, and his red optics were so sharp it could probably cut a bot's armor down to his protoform.

He took one look at her, and snorted, "Pleasure bots are down the hall, femme."

Some of the mechs snickered, and Paradox felt her energon boiling underneath her armor. Her sharp claws curled into a fist, and she couldn't help the scowl that came to her lip-plates.

"I'm not a pleasure bot, I am a soldier, _sir_." She tried not to snarl.

"Are you?" The heavily-armored mech asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Yes." She spoke through clenched denta.

"Prove it."

She was first taken aback by his words, and anger flared up in her so much that her vision flashed red. Then the simmering fury disappeared, and then there was a wicked glint in her ruby optics. And then in a flash, she was in the air, claws sharp and ready to attack. The mech wasn't fast enough. She landed a good punch to his face-plates, and then another in the abdomen. He grunted in pain, staggering backward to try and dodge the blows, but they kept coming, faster than the speed of light. When Paradox could tell her was off balanced, she bent down, her pede sweeping low to the ground, and took his from out under him. He fell on his aft with a loud _clang,_ and his large chassis grumbled lowly in frustration.

His helm rang, vibrating with sharp pain, and once his optics opened, he found the barrel of her cannon right in front of him. Paradox stood triumphantly, with her cannon aimed between his wide optics. The edges of her lip-plates curled up into a sly smirk.

"That enough proof for you, sir?" She asked.

The mechs around them all stood, optics wide open as well. But when her words sank in, they all laughed, staring at the fallen green mech. She retracted her cannon as he grumpily stood to his pedes, and glared at the laughing mechs.

"Shut the frag up, all of you!" He bellowed, quieting the laughter. But Paradox still stood there, her arms crossed against her slim chassis, amusement flashed in her optics.

He then turned his glare to her, and she straightened in respect, "What's your designation, femme?" He spat.

"Paradox, sir." She answered.

He stood there for a moment, as if deciding what t do with the small, violet femme. Then his optics narrowed even more, and in a cold voice he said, "Don't show up late to training again."

Paradox nodded.

And with that, training began.

* * *

The violet femme collapsed onto her berth, not caring at all that it was as hard as steel. After a day of rigorous running, hand-to-hand combat, shooting, and exercising, she was completely exhausted. Not to mention doing everything _twice_ because her fragging drill sergeant, which she later found out his designation was Devastator. Her pedes ached, and her helm was still ringing from gun shots and shouts.

Decepticon training was _nothing_ like Autobot training.

Rolling over so that she was carefully on her spinal strut, she stared up at the dull, gray ceiling of her small berthroom. She perked up at an alert that pinged in her helm.

 _Energon levels: 25%_

She sighed. She knew she'd have to get up and refuel, but she honestly felt like she wouldn't be able to make it five steps before collapsing again. She made a mental note to herself to get energon before the start of her day, so that she wouldn't have to drag herself down to refuel.

Languidly, she rolled off of the berth, pushing herself up with her shaky servos. Her pedes wobbled, and shook, veering her off left and right as she tried to reach for the hatch. After a few more breems and pure determination, she had finally made it down the hall.

She was planning on asking a bot who walked by where the lounge was, but her thoughts were halted when two fast little blurs sped by her, and she barely managed to move out of the way before she tripped over them.

They stopped just at the end of the corridor, the little blue one made an excited whoop, while the red one was bent on his knee joints, panting.

"Slag yeah! I won!" The little blue bot cheered, dancing mockingly around his companion. "You owe me ten credits!"

"Shut the frag up, Frenz." The red one grumbled lowly, still panting.

As Paradox continued to examine them, she realized they were identical, and therefore must be twins. They were too small to be considered mini-bots...what are they?

"You're just mad cuz you lost." His twin cooed in his audio receptor, and the red twin snarled, before slapping him.

The blue one gave an indignant squawk of pain, before showering his twin with punches. They began to tackle and fight, rolling around the floor and Paradox just stared at them.

 _It's funny,_ She mused inside her helm, _they are just like the frontliner twins. Only...smaller._

The last part made her chuckle softly, and the twins helms snapped up and looked at her. Both of their optics widened in surprise, as if they just now noticed her presence. An odd silence passed between the three Cybertronians, before Frenzy let out a low whistle.

"Well, you're a pretty hot femme."

Rumble socked him, "Shut up, Frenzy!"

"What?" He protested, "She is? I'm not gonna lie!"

"Always screwin' up your chances. That's why you never get femmes," Rumble mumbled, before glancing back at Paradox with a wide grin, "What my idiot brother means is, we've never seen you around on this warship before. And trust me, we see _everything_."

 _That could be useful._ Paradox thought, filing away the information. She switched her weight from one pede to the other, "That's...interesting."

"You got a designation?" Frenzy asked, slyly raising an optic ridge. Rumble rolled his optics.

"Yes," Paradox answered slowly, "My designation is Paradox."

Frenzy hummed, "It's cute, I like it. I'm Frenzy, the one with the looks, and that's my brother, Rumble." He said, gesturing to his annoyed red twin.

 _So much like the frontliners…_

"Nice to meet you," Paradox said, deciding that she liked the pair of tiny twins. They were entertaining.

Frenzy grabbed her servo, and planted a soft kiss on it. Her wings stiffened, but she gave no emotion on her face-plates.

"Likewise," Frenzy purred, and Paradox quickly slid her servo out from his tiny grip.

"Um, not trying to offend you or anything but... _what_ are you?" The violet femme finally asked the question that popped up in her processors ever since she met the two. She shot both of the twins a glance.

Frenzy smirked, a wicked glint to his optics, "We're symbiotes, _the_ symbiotes."

Paradox raised an optic ridge, not quite understanding where the little blue bot was going with this.

Frenzy just shrugged off her confusion, "Haven't been here long enough to hear of us yet. We like to call ourselves untouchable. We get away with terrorizing all the Cons cuz we're too stealthy for them to catch!"

"Yeah." Rumble chimed in.

Paradox cocked her helm slightly to the right, "Is that so?"

They both nodded proudly.

"Yeah, we're the-" Frenzy paused, his attention somewhere else for a moment and his optics dulled slightly. Rumble did the same.

Paradox was worried, and yet curious. "Um...is there something wrong?"

Frenzy's optics returned to its bright red, and both the twins gave an exasperated groan. Paradox scrunched her optical ridges together in confusion from the sudden outburst.

"Sorry pretty Paradox," Frenzy then said, "The boss wants us back."

"Yeah, duty calls."

"Bye-Bye!"

"We'll make sure to see you soon, _real_ soon."

And with that, the twins were gone. Paradox couldn't help but smile fondly at the rambunctious twins, who began to argue with each other. It was refreshing to run into Decepticons that didn't talk about blasting Autobots to the moons and back, or intimidate you until your forget what your designation is.

They didn't even seem remotely sinister. Just...playful, flirty, and _very_ energetic.

Maybe not all the Cons are so evil after all.

And with that, she wandered through the hallway, looking again for the lounge.

* * *

Soundwave on the other hand, was not so optimistic. He watched intently as his symbiotes interacted with the femme, who was once again, heading in the wrong direction. There was something off about this femme, he'd sensed it the moment he saw her in the chasm, and the more he interacted with her, the more he could feel it.

 _Rumble, Frenzy._ He spoke through the bond he had with all of his symbiotes, _Return to command center._

 _What? But boss, we're on break!_ Frenzy whined, but Soundwave was having none of it.

 _Soundwave; will not repeat himself._ He said, his monotone voice a tad more firm.

The twins outwardly groaned. _Fiiiine._

With a farewell, the twins left the violet femme alone. At first she just stood there, her optics were out of focus, and Soundwave could tell she was deep in thought. A few more astroseconds she stood there, until she finally walked away.

The edges of Soundwave's lip-plates curled down into a leery frown. He would definitely be keeping an optic on this peculiar femme.

* * *

 **Well, I hoped you liked it! And sorry for any mistakes. Make sure to review!**


	3. Chary

**Sorry it's a day late, it took me some extra time to finish this chapter.**

 **Baesaurus: Why, thank you! The way that I characterize Soundwaver for his speech is; when he's not around someone familiar (like his symbiotes) he will only speak when it is absolutely necessary. I'm definitely thinking about incorporating recordings. But when he's around familiars, he will speak more. He's kinda like me, because I'm a total loner around people I don't know or I'm not familiar with.**

 **Alexandra-Sasha: Thanks! Glad you like them!**

 **Matronium- Thanks! I'm considering that.**

 **ChillingShadow- Haha, thank you! I love your enthusiasm :)**

* * *

Three: Chary

The violet femme onlined even earlier than the last time, and now since she had _two_ joors to do whatever she wanted, she decided to tweak some sensors. If she was going to be doing espionage, then she needed her sensors to be running at top-efficiency. So she could avoid incidents like Soundwave.

The silent, seemingly face-less mech just rubbed her the wrong way. She knew he was high-ranked, and she later found out the area she was sleuthing in was for middle-class soldiers. But why was he lurking around those halls, anyway?

Patrol rounds was the first thing that came to processor, but she was sure Megatron would normally have the middle-class do it. And she still couldn't really wrap her processor around the fact that he managed to sneak up on her... _twice_.

Her division director would've been disappointed.

Speaking of which, now seemed like a good time as any to give her report. She carefully opened up the commlink, and was greeted by a deep, Polyhexian accent.

 _:Hey Paradox. How's it goin' for my little spy in 'Con territory?:_ He asked casually.

 _:So far, the mission is going well sir.:_ Paradox resisted the urge to blush. For some reason, the endearment 'little spy' he liked to call her always had her flustered.

He sighed, _:Darlin', we've been over this. Ya don't have to call me that, Jazz works just as fine.:_

 _:Right, of course. Sorry um...Jazz.:_ It felt strange to say that. _Very_ strange.

His smooth chuckles echoed from the other line, and since she couldn't think of anything else to say with her glossa tied, she just sent him the data and films. There was a long silence as he analyzed the data, the only indication that the link was still on was the soft, silent hum in the background. She was about to turn it off when Jazz spoke up again.

 _:I've seen you've had a...little run-in with Soundwave.:_ His voice was no longer smoothly casual, but indecipherable. Paradox frowned.

 _:Yes. He had snuck up on me, but I've enhanced my sensor detector of spark signatures, and heat on my door wings.:_ Then she added sheepishly, _:I'm sure no mech will be able to sneak up on me again.:_

 _:Just be careful around him, Paradox. Soundwave is definitely a clever one, and he shouldn't be overlooked. He's got optics and audios everywhere, and that could compromise the mission. Try to avoid him as best you can.:_

The violet femme could only nod, _:Yes, si-Jazz! Yes, Jazz.:_

Jazz snorted softly, _:Don't glitch yourself. Anyway, comm you in five orns. Remember what I taught you.:_

The comm ended, and Paradox felt herself letting out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding in. She was sure that Jazz would've gotten angry when he found out how easily she slipped up around Soundwave. But instead, he didn't even bring it up. Just a slightly foreboding warning.

A ping snapped her out of her thoughts, and she flinched.

 _Report to Knock Out's med-bay for routinely check-up._ Was the message that flashed before her optics.

* * *

It took her a few breems to find the med-bay. The warship was a lot bigger than she originally thought, and she was also taking her time so she could internally map out the entire first level, where all the important areas except for the Command Center seemed to be. This med-bay was much more different from Ratchet's. It was clean and organized liked the Ratchet's, but it was more in an eerie, sinister way. The sharp tools along the walls and shelves made her armor crawl. As she sat down on a berth directed to her, she could've sworn the strange odor in the air was that of energon.

 _Spilt_ energon.

Her armor tightened, and she pushed the thought away as someone approached her. She was very tall, especially for a femme, and her armor was much more thicker than normal, but still managed to give the perfect hourglass figure. Her armor was a dark blue with white highlights around her pedes, chassis, and helm. Even though her optics were pink, they were hard and seemed to tell a story of a femme who has been through some slag. That, along with the gruesome scar that ran from her right optic all the way to her mouth-plate.

The tall, strong femme had caught Paradox completely by surprise, and all she could do was gawk up at her. Until suddenly, the lights she never noticed that was built into her chassis flashed so brightly that it burned and Paradox groaned in pain, burying her face-plates in her servos and rubbed her optics fiercely. It took everything in her to not just cry out in pain.

To put it simply; it hurt a whole slaggin' lot like _pit_.

Once her helm stopped spinning and her optics returned to normal, she glared up at the taller femme. Anger flared up in her chassis, and she stood up with clenched servos, "What the frag was that for?!"

"For not paying attention when I'm talking to you," She snapped with even more bite, her optics narrowed dangerously. They stood there for a moment, glaring at each other and silently sizing the other. They didn't care at all that Paradox's outburst attracted the attention of most of the mechs in the med-bay, and they all turned to stare at them with indiscreet interest.

The instinct to fight made her armor tighten, for a moment, but she quickly reminded herself that she was on a mission and she couldn't fight everybot who irritated her. So as much as she hated to do it, she sat back down on the berth, crossing her servos indignantly. Refusing to meet the smug femme's face, she chose to glare at the ground instead, and silently wished the femme would spontaneously combust.

"You're Paradox, right?" The femme asked, breaking the tense silence as she pulled out a data pad.

Still not meeting her optics, Paradox gave a curt nod.

She didn't respond, but went over to the computer on the other side and her servos ran silently across the keyboard. And then she bent down next to her, going over the simple evaluations. She was currently scanning her spark while writing down a few notes on the data pad in her servo, when she decided to go for casual conversation.

"So, what made you decide to join the 'Cons?"

Paradox paused for a moment, deciding on whether it was too risky or not to say anything. And other than the two symbiotes she had ran into a few cycles ago and Soundwave, this femme was the only one who seemed to acknowledge her existence. Maybe it was also because she was the only femme she'd seen besides herself on the warship, but she decided that she would talk.

The violet femme simply shrugged, "Megatron's speech appealed to me. And besides, if he's strong enough to overthrow the council, he should have no problem stopping the Autobots."

She scoffed, obviously skeptical, "Is that all?"

Paradox frowned, "Should there be another reason?"

"Not really." She responded with a shrug, "I just haven't seen a femme on this ship that was _willing_ to be apart of the Decepticons."

 _Willing?_

Paradox raised an optic ridge, "Are you here unwillingly?"

The femme faltered slightly while writing, and her sharp, crimson optics caught it. She didn't want to push too far, but she was always looking for any opportunities to gain more information. After all, she _was_ a spy. The femme simply ignored her question completely, and placed the data pad down.

"Well, since you're almost done with your training, now seems like a good time to install your comm frequency. You might be picked for patrols." She explained. As she placed the data pad down, the violet femme snuck a glance at the top and saw her designation.

Nightblade.

Paradox nodded, but reluctantly slid open her data-transmitting port. If the taller femme noticed it, she didn't comment, but synced with her. The feeling of having another mind within her processors was never pleasant, and she couldn't help her firewalls shooting up to protect herself. She let the Nightblade override it with medical protocols, and began the process of transmitting the right frequency for her helm to copy and install it.

It was a process that took about a breem, but it felt like an eternity had gone by before Nightblade unsynched and escaped her helm. Unlike most soldiers, Paradox didn't have a fear of medics, but she did have a fear of another being inside her own helm. Digging into the secrets that were meant for her and her only, and breaking the walls she's spent so much time to build up is what unnerved her. And for someone to do it in such a brutal and unethical way terrified her.

The aftermath was always the hardest part, but she pushed the dull ache away as she sat up slowly.

"You don't have to put on a show," The Nightblade muttered, slipping a defrag chip into the port near her wrist.

"I'm fine." She answered stiffly.

She turned around to walk out of the med bay, but stop when she felt a servo on her shoulder. Unlike the femme's hard optics and gruff personality, the calm, gentleness in the way she touched her had her frame relaxing. She turned around, and those guarded pink optics softened.

"Just be careful." She whispered lowly, and then gave her a small, half-smile, "Besides, us femmes got to stick together, right?"

Paradox for the moment was speechless. She hadn't expected this complete different side of the her, and all she could do was nod. Nightblade gave her another small smile, before nodding and walked off to her next patient. Paradox watched her for a moment, before finally leaving the med-bay.

All the while, not noticing the vigilant red visor that watched her go.

* * *

 **Hoped you liked it. You'll definitely be seeing more of Nightblade in the chapters to come!**


	4. Lessons

**Reader-Writer-Animator: Thanks! I do read a lot of fanfics about that, and I've always wondered what it'd be like if they went to the Cons side. I'm glad you're interested in her. The way this is set up, there's not a lot of femmes in Kaon because well...there's not much jobs for her unless she was a gladiator or pleasure-bot. Kaon is very gender-biased, as you can tell from the story so far when they assumed Paradox was a pleasure bot. Femmes live more around Iacon, Praxus, and other Autobot-territories because there's more equal opportunities. But that's how I see it.**

 **Starlight. Moonlight .S unlight: Thanks :)**

 **SunnySides: Yes, I do love Jazz, he's in the top 3! Sorry, this one's longer though.**

 **BarricadesDemon216: Thank you, and I will!**

 **SilentHuntress72: Haha, me too ;)**

 **Here's the next chapter. Just a warning though, there are some rated T stuff in this chapter. But I don't think it's that bad.**

* * *

Four: Lessons

"Now that you have all passed the training stage, you will all be distributed into divisions according to your talent and abilities," Starscream's scratchy voice rang out in silent training hangar. Paradox watched him with barely-veiled contempt. Everything from the way he paced to the way his lip-plates lit up with a cunning smile was calculated.

She actually hated him more than she hated Megatron. The vindictive, devious glitch and his army of Seekers was responsible for so much damage to many innocent cities. Paradox clenched her servos into tight fists, trying to resist the urge to rip his taunting wings right out of his spinal strut. But her optics still burned with emotion, and for some reason, she had the eerie feeling someone was watching her. She thought she was only being irrational, but just in case, she kept her her helm low. It's too risky to raw attention to herself.

Starscream then stopped, and grinned at the crowd of mechs and a violet femme, "Welcome to the victory team."

The crowd of mechs burst into loud cheers, and Paradox couldn't help but roll her optics. These mechs were all mindless brutes. They wouldn't last very long on the battlefield, but she just pushed the thought away.

"All your duties and schedules will be sent to you later on." And with that, Starscream disappeared.

Paradox decided now would be the best time to disappear too. She didn't want to linger, and instead decided to go refuel in a quiet place. She wanted to be alone and relish the few breems she still had as an Autobot, before she was forced to put that atrocious symbol on her chassis.

Her proccessor was so wrapped up on the events to come, that when the violet femme typed in the passcode, she didn't realize for almost two astroseconds that she wasn't alone. Her door wings stiffened, and she spun around, fusion cannon whirring to life as she readied to aim with deadly determination.

"Woah, woah- wait!" A voice cried out, and Paradox froze.

"What?" The question fell out of her lip-plates.

"Yeesh! What's with the cannon? Are you trying to kill us or something?" Another familiar voice cried out, and Paradox powered down her cannon.

It was the symbiotes.

Confusion crossed her face-plates, before her optics narrowed warily, "How did you get in here?"

Frenzy just rolled his optics and scoffed, as if she asked him why the sky was blue. "Isn't it obvious? Soundwave has access codes to every room, even Megatron's."

Paradox stiffened at the silent mech's name, "He...he just gave you my codes?"

"Frag no," Rumble spoke up, "Frenzy just looked them up when he wasn't looking."

"Are you kidding me?" She exclaimed.

"Um...no?"

""You can't just sneak in her unannounced," She said, anger and frustration made her plating flare, "Who does that? Why did you do that?"

"Hey, calm-"

"Don't you dare to me to calm down! I have the right to be angry!" She snapped.

"Okay, Primus we're sorry." Frenzy muttered, rubbing his helm sheepishly, "We just...wanted to see you again. It's tough when you have a boss like Soundwave. All he makes us do is spy, infiltrate, and spy some more. We get bored easily."

"Yeah," Rumble agreed, "That's why we came here."

Paradox sighed, the anger fading as the twin ruby optics flashed with hurt. If it was true that these two symbiotes were in charge of espionage, then she would need to keep on their good side. Besides, she needed to know more about that weapon Megatron was supposedly building.

"It's okay," She said exasperatedly, walking over to her berth, "Just...don't do it again."

"We swear!" Frenzy perked up, climbing on top of her berth and laying on his front as he grinned up at her, "Congratz on passing training by the way. Now you're officially a Decepticon."

Her tanks churned with dread, and she absently rubbed at her chassis.

"Aren't you supposed to, you know, go get the sigil?" Rumble asked, looking up at her expectantly.

She fought the urge to scowl, "I will soon."

The symbiotes shared a look, and then Frenzy shrugged. There was an awkward silence for a little while, and then he shattered it.

"So...you're not going to the celebration?"

"What celebration?" Paradox asked, thankful to be distracted from her dark thoughts.

"The one this big gray mech is throwing, what's his designation again?" Frenzy looked at Rumble.

He shrugged, "Beats me."

Frenzy squinted at the ground, deep in thought before he finally waved it off, "Doesn't matter, all I know is they're bustin' out the highgrade."

"Well, count me in." Rumble said, and Frenzy pulled himself upright before hopping off Paradox's berth.

At the last astrosecond, he turned around, "Hey, are you gonna come?"

She shook her helm.

"Oh come on! Half the base is gonna be there!"

Celebrating was the last thing on her processor, but this would make for a good opportunity to do more sleuthing. Perhaps if one of them got drunk enough, they'll slip out some information on what they've heard or seen. She nodded, and the twins let out excited whoops. A pang of guilt hit her.

She felt bad for taking advantage over them. It was clear that they were not savage, sparkless Decepticons. They seemed to be more or less younglings.

 _It's for the cause_ , She had to remind herself, _for_ _the greater good_.

For Cybertron.

* * *

Okay, she screwed up.

 _Really_ badly.

At one point, the two rambunctious symbiotes were practically dragging her into the lounge filled with crowded mechs already drunk off their afts. And at first, she just watched them drink, laughing when they started spouting out nonsense and stumbling around on their pedes. She had also decided to take the time to re-stock up on her energon supply, and refuel.

Turns out, the energon wasn't energon. Some fragger had spiked it with high grade and something undetectable. By the time she decided she'd return to Rumble and Frenzy, the room felt like it was spinning. Not to mention the helm-aching beat to some music blasting through the speakers, somebot had brought in.

She cursed to herself as she nearly tripped over her own pedes. Whatever they put in the energon, it was fast-working and strong as _pit_. The room still felt like it was spinning as she stumbled, and she yelped in surprise when she felt somebot intentionally grab her aft.

Spinning on her heel, she glared at the tall green mech. It was the same mech who she ran into at the meeting in the tunnel, and by the looks of it, he was more drunk than she was. His breaths were ragged, as he stared lustfully down her frame and she growled.

His servos shot out and grabbed her by the arms, and because she was drugged on Primus-knows-what, her reflexes weren't fast enough. She thrashed and struggled in his grip.

He suddenly had her pinned against a wall, his hot breath uncomfortably fanned out on her neck cables and she flinched.

"Calm down sweetspark." He purred.

"Get the _frag_ off of me!" She hissed, surprised that her voice came out so firm in her sluggish state.

"Ya need to loosen up," He murmured, but he didn't get any farther. Because another strong servo was on his arm, and in one fluid motion, completely yanked the bulky green mech off of her.

He was slammed, hard into the same wall and was met with a burning red visor. Soundwave had an iron-like grip on the mech's arm. It seemed that even in his drunken state, he seemed to recognize who Soundwave was and immediately stopped resisting him.

"Sorry S-Sir," He slurred sloppily, "Didn't know she was yours."

That seemed to annoy Soundwave even more, and his grip tightened until he heard the sickening _crunch_ of his armor buckling in and the mech howled in pain. He dropped to the ground when Soundwave released him, holding his now mangled arm. Satisfied, Soundwave now turned to the small, violet femme.

Even though her wings were raised high on her back, and her helm tilted up to meet his stare, he knew she was afraid. The fear came off of her in waves, and he didn't have to be a telepath to know that. She was still staring at him, which irked him. He was about to command her to stop, when she stumbled and nearly crashed right into him if it wasn't for his fast reflexes.

He gripped the femme by her shoulders, and scanned her, a little surprised at his results. It was very idiotic to ingest Cybertoxium. It was even more idiotic for a femme like her to ingest it in a room full of drunk mechs. Maybe he should've let the green mech take advantage of her, to teach her a lesson.

"Femme; very intoxicated." He said sharply, his grip tightening on her shoulders.

Paradox yelped in surprise, heat from embarrassment soon flooded her already tensed systems. She tried to wriggle out of his grip, but to no avail. For some reason, she wasn't as panicked and angry as she was with the bulky, green mech.

She was simply... _flustered_.

"It wasn't my fault." She mumbled quietly. "S-Someone spiked the energon."

Soundwave was almost tempted to shake his helm. She _should_ have known better. With a tiny, barely audible sigh, he turned and grabbed the two drunken frames of Rumble and Frenzy in one arm, and with the other, pulled Paradox along with him. He made their way out of the crowded lounge, not even having to push his way through, mechs parted for him had Cosmic Rust.

Paradox on the other hand stumbled and staggered, tripping on her wobbly pedes about five times. As much as she didn't want to be pulled out of the room by the visored mech, she wouldn't be able to walk straight without him.

So cursing to herself, she stumbled along, until they were finally at her not-so-secret berthroom. He typed in the passcode without a second thought, and Paradox tried not to dwell on how fast he memorized it. It would only make her aching processor hurt even more.

He finally let go of her, and Paradox stumbled a bit before balancing herself. He had placed the twins down gently before turning to face her. The violet femme's plating tightened as he walked towards her, and she briefly wondered if he brought her here to try and take advantage of her in a more private setting. The idea had dread churning in her tanks and her battle protocols whirred to life.

If she was in a right state of mind, she would've known attacking first was a rookie's mistake. But she wasn't and so she attacked first, her claws swinging and targeting his visor. But the mech easily side-stepped her, knocking her off balance, before slamming her not-so-gently on to her berth.

By now she knew struggling wouldn't help, so she didn't. She just stared at him with terrified, wide optics. She winced when he leaned in, his visor close enough that the band of crimson illuminated on her face-plates.

"Please…" She whispered weakly, "Don't..."

Long, tensed breems passed between them before Soundwave finally said something.

"Femme; very foolish. Should have known better." And in the blink of an optic, he was up again, collecting his symbiotes.

Soundwave paused a few inches from the hatch and glanced back at her, "Assumed lesson is learned."

He was gone.

She gusted a huge sigh of relief, her frame instantly relaxing now that he was gone. The room had thankfully stopped spinning, but her helm ached like pit.

"Lesson is very learned," She muttered tiredly, before falling into a deep recharge.

* * *

Somehow, she managed to drag herself out of her berth and down to the med bay the next orn. Her helm still hurt, but it was reduced to a dull throb instead of searing pain from the night before. She'd gotten her schedule, and she had patrol in a joor. She knew she'd put it off long enough, but now it was time to face her fear. One of them, anyway.

The dark blue medic approached her with a small smile, her dim pink optics brightening just a little bit. Paradox slumped on to the berth, not having enough energy to _pretend_ she wasn't exhausted.

"I was wondering when you would come by," She said, already gathering the necessary tools for the process, "It's almost as if you're avoiding it."

She was right, but Paradox just shrugged, "There was a celebration."

Nightblade nodded, "I see." She then absently scanned the violet femme, and reeled back in surprise when she noticed her energon streams had the remnants of Cybertoxium in them. "Primus, femme! Are you trying to burn your insides out?!"

"What?" Paradox muttered.

Nightblade shot her a stern glare, "Why the frag do you have remnants of Cybertoxium in your veins? Do you know what that stuff can do to you? It's one of the most dangerous drugs known to Cybertronians! And with the frame type you have, I'm surprised half your torso hasn't corroded away yet!" She hissed, bringing her face close enough to Paradox to be threatening.

The action reminded her of Soundwave, and suddenly a band of crimson was stuck inside her helm. She shivered at his firm, almost harsh touch on her shoulders, and the deep, tedious tone of his voice-

She groaned in pain as a burning, bright light filled her vision.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Nightblade snapped.

Wisely, Paradox remained silent. Nightblade sighed, shaking her helm, before pulling out a murky green substance from her subspace. She poured some into a small little cup and handed it to the violet femme, "Open up."

"What is it?" She asked curiously.

"Antiboitics, helps to get rid of the remnants before it gets into anywhere important." She explained.

Paradox nodded, and drained the cup. But she reluctantly put it back down. She could only stall for so long, she _did_ have a patrol round. Her claws fidgeted in apprehension, and she stared down at the glossy floor as Nightblade approached her again, this time carrying the Decepticon sigil. She didn't even want to look at it.

"Just get it over with." She muttered lamentably.

The dark blue medic nodded, and without a word began the process of engraving it.

* * *

She couldn't find it in herself to even look down at her chassis, which felt like a ton of Cybertronium had been placed on it. It felt like a part of her had been taken away, and easily replaced by something she was not. Her claws still twitched, and she wanted nothing more than to tear it off with her own servos.

Once Nightblade was done and checked to make sure everything was in order, she slid off the berth, trying to ignore the heavy guilt in her chassis.

"You get used to it after a while," Nightblade muttered, not at all oblivious to Paradox's obvious discomfort. "Even if it feels like a piece of you is missing every time you look at it."

Paradox spun around in surprise. She felt the same way?

"Then why are you here?" She found herself blurting out, "Why join the Decepticons, when it doesn't feel right?"

The blue medic just gave her a wry smile, and shook her head. Her optics flashed with an emotion, but Paradox wasn't quick enough to catch it.

"I didn't join because it felt right, I joined because I needed to _survive_."

* * *

 **Chapter complete! Thanks for reading, and if there are any mistakes, sorry I'm tired. Please review :)**


	5. Introspective

**Okay so two days ago, when I got on Fanfiction, I checked up on TAOD and I was like OoO. Thanks for the increase of favs/follows, views, and even reviews! Yay! *hands internet cookie to each of you***

 **PathBeater: This review made my laugh so hard for some reason. Especially the first sentence :). Thank you, and yes, Paradox stay in on the Warship is definitely going to spark up some stuff. I'm glad you caught on to it! Yes, I love Soundwave too...especially in G1 and Prime Animated. He's in my top 5 favorites for bots on both sides. And thank you for that as well, I am honored to be one of those authors!**

 **Starlight. Moonlight. Sunshine: Thank you!**

 **SilentHuntress72: OMG I'm so sorry XD. I'll definitely fix that!**

 **SunnySides: Haha, definitely...he's going to get even more protective of her soon. In that one his visor fits his whole face and covers up most of his identity, which I think is something Soundwave would do. Because he's you know; tall, dark, and mysterious.**

 **Stedler2: Thank you! Yes, of course. The others will be revealed soon!**

 **Reader-Writer-Animator: Thank you, and yes, Nightblade is dropping subtle and not-so-subtle hints at her past. I liked to think Paradox is a hardcore nationalist as well, because in her mind, she does everything for the good of Cybertron.**

 **99luftballonsx.o.x: Lol, I know. You'll just have to stick around to find out ;)**

 **Flying-Freely: Oh yes, the tension is definitely building up! Thank you, for the compliment! And yeah, this pairing is going will take some time to reach it's point.**

 **Okay, so this has been asked in the reviews on which universe is it from. It's going to be in Transformers Animated Prime, but with a little twist. I want Soundwave to actually have a face (I'm honestly not sure if he has one or not because I don't think he ever reveals it in the series). And I also want Frenzy and Rumble because they are key characters. Also, this pot will eventually lead into the T-Prime Animated series.**

 **I hope that's not too confusing for you guys, basically to sum it up; I'm combining elements from both universes because I like them. I also adore Rmble and Frenzy.**

* * *

Five: Introspective

After her patrol rounds, Paradox decided to stop by the Med Bay again. All morning, her processors dwelled on Nightblade's blunt, if not a little treasonous, response. If pride and loyalty wasn't keeping her here, then what was?

Her optics scanned around the Med Bay, and her plating stiffened just a fraction when she noticed the green mech. His arm was propped up, and the piece of armor Soundwave had mangled was gone, leaving his soft gray protoform exposed.

It was too late to look away. The mech must've felt her gaze, and when his optics landed on her, they narrowed into an icy glare, despite them being a burning vermilion. She tore her gaze away from him and looked on, disappointed to find the femme medic not at her usual station.

In fact, she wasn't anywhere in sight.

There was a low snarl, and her door wings flew up in alarm. She knew it was the green mech. Paradox wasn't afraid of him, she's fought mech's twice his size, but for some reason, she felt a little guilty.

If anything, she _should_ feel satisfied that the bulky mech finally got what he deserved. But staring at the brutally damaged armor piece on the little stand next to him, and the energon lines that was hastily welded back together, she felt none.

As much as he's been an aft to her in every encounter so far, she didn't feel the mech deserved such a violent, harsh punishment. It actually made her angry.

But she had to keep reminding herself that she was no longer with Autobots, and in here, morals go out the window. Retrobeam was right, Decepticons were nothing more than an army of savage mechs.

Even if Soundwave did it in the heat of the moment, she could tell how calculated he was with applying pressure in just the right areas for maximum pain. Mangling it perfectly so he'd have a pit of a time trying to fix it.

Paradox shivered, and she wasn't sure if it was from anger or fear.

Soundwave was unpredictable, that was for sure. One moment he could be helping you to your room when your incapacitated, and the next crunching armor with cold, calculated fury. Jazz was right when he warned her to stay away from him, and whatever curiosities she had about the silent mech she pushed aside.

Speaking of Jazz, she should start constructing that report.

Turning on her pedes, she was about to walk out when a red mech came grumbling in. She's seen him before, it was Knock Out, the medical officer and the high-ranking Con she had spied on. He seemed to be agitated, as he ranted about something to a tall, visored mech that followed him.

Her spark lurched. The first thought that came to her was; _Soundwave._

But then she realized the differences. Unlike Soundwave, this mech was bulkier and din't have the sharp, angled armor that he did. The wheels on his back indicated that he was a Vehicon, and she was sure Soundwave was a jet of some sorts. He had a datapad and stylus with him, frantically writing down whatever Knock Out was listing.

The atmosphere in the Med Bay seemed to shift. The causal conversations died down, and every helm turned to witness Knock Out's fit.

"Everything needs to be accounted for, I can't afford any mishaps or Megatron will have my helm! Do you understand?" The red mech stopped, to give the Vehicon a very impatient glare.

He nodded quickly, "Yes, sir."

"Well then _why_ are you still standing here? Go get the fragging supplies!"

"May I ask for assistance?" The mech asked reluctantly.

Knock Out's red optics flared with irritation, and he gave a frustrated sigh, rubbing his olfactory sensor in clear irritation. Paradox had just decided to go around the back exit when he suddenly barked something.

"You there!"

The violet femme froze, praying to Primus it wasn't her he called on.

"Me?" She asked.

"Yes, _you_! Are you deaf, femme?" He spat, and Paradox resisted the urge to punch him right in the face-plates. She was starting to get tired of being targeted because she was a femme.

"Oh." She spoked through clenched denta, "My mistake, sir."

He muttered something low under his breath as he shook his helm, "Whatever. Anyway, go help this mech retrieve these supplies. Drop, touch or tinker with _anything_ in there and I will personally see to it that your punishment will be long and painful."

Despite his mood, he grinned viciously and Paradox resisted the urge to shudder.

"Do I make myself clear?" He said, looking between the both of them.

"Yes, sir." They both answered apprehensively.

Knock out rolled his optics and then walked away. Paradox took that as her cue and joined the Vehicon as they both walked out of the Med bay.

 _Guess that report will have to wait,_ She thought wryly.

* * *

They walked through the tunnels, and arrived in the heart of Kaon. The streets were crowded with mechs; some selling jewelry, armor, weapons, and to her disgust, pleasure femmes. She kept her wings down low so that nobot would touch them, as she followed the tall Vehicon. The citadels towered high over the busy city, and she took a mental picture of it, saving it to her memory files. Even though the city was crawling with Decepticon influence, it was still beautiful.

Her companion wasn't as amazed with the sight all around him as Paradox was. He kept his helm low, concentrating on the directions Knock Out had commed him, and never spoke a word. But Paradox didn't mind, she was content with staring up at the largest citadel. It looked like a giant needle coming out of the ground, and at the top, was a strange curved arch the femme's never seen before. It stretched out to the sides, and from a distance, looked like it was holding the pale yellow sun.

It was beautiful.

Paradox didn't see the dark jet rushing at her in his alt mode form. She would have almost collided with him if it wasn't for the Vehicon's servo that reached out, and snatched her back on to the sidewalk at the last moment. She didn't even realized she had wondered off the street.

"T-Thank you." She mumbled.

He only gave a curt nod, and kept walking. This time Paradox kept her sights focused on what was ahead of her. They turned around a corner, and Paradox grimaced at how shady the building look. The Vehicon knocked on the door and they waited. There was a long, tense silence, and Paradox was about to ask if he had the right address when the hatch slid open.

Paradox's ruby optics widened.

Leaning casually against the threshold was a femme, but this wasn't a normal femme. She was slim, tall, and armor was all dark, menacing colors. What stumped her the most was the six extra limbs coming out from her spinal strut with dangerous sharp claws. Her optics were pink like Nightblade's, but there was nothing warm and welcoming in them. They screamed _wicked_.

The femme grinned, exposing two sharp fangs, "How can I help you?"

* * *

 **Anyone think they know who the femme is? ;)**


	6. Consignment

**Yeah, all of you guessed right :)**

 **grievousrommel: Well, on a scale of 1 to 10...I'd say a 75. Lol, yeah.**

 **Starlight. Moonlight. Sunshine: Yes, but not until a little later.**

 **ChillingShadow: "Robo-Spider-Lady"? LOL.**

 **PathBeater: Yes! I dunno, because the way I read the first sentence, it just made me laugh probably cuz you said fam. Yes, Airrachnid will be introduced now, but come into the story a lot later because she isn't an "official" Decepticon yet. And ooh, yes, they _do_ have some tension. Thank you for the compliment! I basically typed it on how I thought Kaon looked in my mind, mixed with all the imagery I get from other fics.**

 **SunnySides: Yes, it's her. Your welcome ;)**

 **WhiteDiamondNinja8484: Yes.**

 **99luftballonsx.o.x: Yup. Thanks, I do too.**

* * *

Six: Consignment

"We're here for the shipment." The Vehicon answered flatly. The violet femme raised an optical ridge, sneaking a glance at her companion. Was it just her, or did she sense _animosity_ in his tedious tone.

The strange femme's rolled her optics, "Of course. Always the shipments, huh? Why don't you ever come around to just... _talk_?" The sentence seemed innocent, but the seductive grin she was shooting him said differently. She leaned in towards him, tilting her helm to the side, and reached out with one claw, running in slowly down the side of his visor.

Paradox had to give him credit to not move under that wicked pink gaze, or the razor-sharp claws. The femme chuckled lowly, and he clenched his servos.

"Stop wasting time Airachnid. We're on a tight schedule, just give us what we need."

Airachnid just snorted, and whispered, "You won't be able to resist me forever."

Paradox coughed awkwardly, and it seemed like the strange femme finally noticed her. Her gaze was harsh as it roamed over her, before she harrumphed and leaned back into the threshold. Turning on one of her pedes, she began walking into the dark entrance. Beckoning the two to follower her over her shoulder.

Paradox hesitated, and glanced at the Vehicon again. He gave a little sigh of exasperated irritation, before following after her, and Paradox moved behind him. They both had to switch on night-vision becuase it was so dark in the hallway, and their glows of their red optics projected eerie shadows onto the wall. Airachnid finally came to a stop at a door so small that Paradox would have to crouch just to enter. One of her limbs extended from her backside quickly over the keypad next to the wall, and the door clicked open.

Her optics couldn't help but widen at the sheer amount of weapons that lined the whole entire room. Some were small enough for somebot like Rumble and Frenzy to hold, and Primus, some were bigger than Megatron himself. Suddenly, she was reminded of the Autobot's weapons' specialist Ironhide, and how he would be probably nearly squealing with wide optics at all of this. There was plasma cannons, fusion cannons, acid pelts, grenades, tanks, and the standard energon cannons. It was a wonder how the femme even got all these weapons into this one room without raising any suspicion. But then again, this _was_ Kaon.

Airachnid didn't even bat an optic at the small and massive weapons of destruction, walked into a much taller room. This room had a whole wall dedicated to random parts and different armor platings from very thin to very bulky. On the other side of the room, was a wall dedicated to a bunch of strange mixtures. They were all glowing a neon yellow color with dark speckles. She didn't even want to think about where they had gotten all these extra armor and frame parts from, so she didn't, and turned her gaze to the tall blue mech who sat at a desk right in front of the odd collection of mixtures.

His optics were a deep purple, as he looked up at them, "Megatron needs another shipment, eh?"

Airachnid nodded with a tiny sigh, "It appears so."

"They're on the counter." He answered, gesturing over to the counter in the far room.

Paradox stared intently at the glowing green mixtures, which looked like rotten energon. Her olfactory sensor crinkled in distaste at the odd fumes coming from it as Airachnid brought it over to them. All three Cybertronians did not miss the little sway of her hips, and Paradox wondered why she tried so much when clearly this Vehicon wasn't interested. She honestly wasn't sure if it was all a fun little game to annoy him, or if she genuinely liked him.

The mech at the desk rolled his optics, "Stop with the fragging flirtin' and just give them what they need."

Airachnid rolled her optics, "As if."

She placed one crate in the Vehicon's arms, and gave the other one to her. Paradox fumbled with the crate, trying her hardest not to drop it. She didn't expect it to be so heavy, no wonder why the Vehicon wanted assistance. That, and he'd probably be less harassed if someone went along with him.

"You and your Lord Protector are sure taking up a lot of energy using this. We're almost out of stock." She gave another fanged-grin, "I must admit, I am a little curious as to what old Megsy up there is plotting with that one-optic creep. Must be something big, right?"

"What Lord Megatron plans to do with Commander Shockwave is none of your concern." He answered stiffly, and Airachnid frowned. Paradox' curiosity was only aroused.

"Oh come now, you know I won't tell." She winked at him, "I'm excellent at keeping secrets."

"Airachnid," The blue mech sighed in an exasperated tone.

She just scoffed walking to a different part of the room, and the Vehicon followed her to transfer the credits. Paradox couldn't help but have that uncanny feeling of being watched again. Usually, it only happened when she was around Soundwave, and if she's learned anything from these past experiences, it was to trust this strange sense. She shifted the crate in her servos, and her gaze discreetly slide around the room, looking for security cameras. What she found was that the blue mech was the one who was watching her intently.

The way his dark purple optics gazed at her wasn't a look of lust like most of the mechs had when they looked at her, but it was one of interest, and wariness. It was like he was trying to stare into her soul, and that gaze reminded her so much of Soundwave that she couldn't repress a shudder.

"A femme Decepticon," He intoned, still staring at her, "That's rather rare."

Paradox wasn't sure how to respond, so she juts nodded.

He leaned forward, his chin on his servos, "What's your designation?"

"P-Paradox, sir." She mentally cursed herself for stuttering. She wasn't supposed to show fear.

He raised an optic ridge, "May I ask what caused you to join the Decepticon army?"

She swallowed hard, and her servos clenched the crate just a little bit harder, "Megatron speech moved me."

The blue mech seemed to nod, "He does have a talent when it comes to speeches."

Paradox resisted the urge to scowl, and nodded again.

"You are originally from Praxus?"

Paradox froze, her door wings stiffened to her spinal struts. For a moment, she thought that maybe he could see through her façade. She wondered if he knew why she was really here, and if he was going to expose her right then and there. She dug through her memory files frantically, trying to see if she had met the mech before. Because that would be a legitimate reason as to how he knew she was Praxian.

It wasn't like someone could take a look at her and say it, Paradox made sure of it. She kept her armor colors dark, which contradict the typical light colors of Praxians. She also didn't have Chevron, because she wasn't born with one. Alert and wariness seeped into her joints, and she slowly prepared herself for a fight, although she was hoping it didn't come to that.

"Your door wings gives it away," He answered, reading her surprised facial expression.

Oh.

It would seem the door wings would be obvious, too, since that was another way to identify a Praxian. Her tensed frame relaxed only a fraction, she was still very wary of this mech.

"Yes, I am." She answered eventually.

"And Megaton's speech is what brought you here to Kaon?" He inquired.

The violet femme glanced desperately at the direction the Vehicon and Airachnid left in. _How long does it take to transfer some fragging credits?!_ She thought frantically. When they didn't suddenly appear again, she stifled an exasperated sigh and faced the blue mech with a tight smile.

"Yes, that and the propoganda." Okay, even that sounded lame to _her_. She's going to need to work on her cover story, especially if this keeps happening to her.

The blue mech just evaluated her a little longer, before giving a small nod. "Interesting."

Finally, the Vehicon returned with Airachnid sauntering behind him. Paradox immediately followed the two towards the hatch they originally came through, relieved to leave this awkward and strained conversation with the blue mech. They passed the weapons vault, up through the dark hallway again and back to the entrance. The violet femme nearly leaped out of the door, alleviated just to be in fresh air and sunlight again.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Airachnid purred with a wicked smirk, before the hatch closed.

Paradox silently made a promise to always avoid Knock Out when he had his temper.

* * *

She slumped down on her berth, relishing in the feeling of not being on her aching pedes. After delivering those questionable liquids back to Knock Out, she had another patrol round, and then had to chase Rumble and Frenzy around when they decided to steal her much-needed energon. Those little fraggers got away before she could snatch them. But at least she was here now, content with the blissful silence.

Her optics snapped back open, and she sat up. _The report!_

Quickly, but still carefully, she opened the comm link.

 _:Hey little spy.:_ Jazz's deep voice purred, _:Tell meh, what's tha scoop?:_

 _:Not much, sir.:_ Paradox said with a sigh, _:But I do believe I have a little more information on the weapon Shockwave and Megatron are supposedly constructing.:_

 _:Do tell.:_

 _:Well, they are getting shipments in from an outside source in Kaon. One of the suppliers designation is Airachnid, does that sound familiar?:_

 _:It doesn't ring a bell.:_ Jazz replied, _:But I'll definitely check up on her. Anything else?:_

 _:There is a possible chance I might soon be able to infiltrate the security room. I just need to get a little closer to-:_

 _:Paradox,:_ He interrupted, his voice gravely serious, with had the femme trailing off in surprise. He sighed, _:Please, at least for mah sake. Be careful around Soundwave, getting close to him is too risky.:_

 _:It's not him, it's his symbiotes.:_

 _:Symbiotes?:_

 _:Yes. Primus knows they've gotten close to me. I can barely keep them away from me.:_ Paradox muttered, before chuckling softly.

The line was quiet, and for a moment, Paradox thought he had ended the comm.

 _:Sir? Is everything okay?:_ She asked tentatively.

 _:Nothin's wrong.:_ He answered a while later, his voice crackling.

Paradox raised an optic ridge. _:Are...are you sure?:_

 _:Yes, Darlin. Nothin to worry about, I was just...reminded of something. Anyway, I'm sure you need to recharge. I didn't want to comment earlier, but ya sound like Death.:_

Instead of being embarrassed, the violet femme actually chuckled. She _was_ exhausted, it had been a long day.

 _:Okay, Si-Jazz.:_ She replied.

She heard deep chuckled from the other line, _:Until next time.:_

The comm ended.

Paradox got herself settled into her berth again, about to offline her optics when a firm knock came to her hatch. Startled, she jolted up. Before she could ask who it was or scan the spark signature outside her hatch, a voice drifted from the outside.

"It's uh...us." Frenzy called out.

Paradox rolled her optics, "Go away. I don't feel like playing right now."

"No um, we actually came to uh...give you your energon back."

"Leave it at the door."

"And we want to apologize," Rumble spoke up, "We didn't know how exhausted you were. We thought you were sad about something again so we you know...tried to cheer you up."

"Sad _again_?" Paradox repeated.

"Yeah. Sometimes, when you zone out, you get this really sad look to your optics. We just wanted to um, cheer you up."

 _I guess that's as close to an apology as I'll get._ The violet femme thought as she pulled herself off her berth and lazily walked over to the hatch, unlocking the door and it slid open.

What she didn't expect was to come face to visor with Soundwave.

She almost jumped up in the air with how startled she was, "Soundwave!"

He gave a tiny nod of acknowledgement, but all she could do was stare with wide optics. He then looked down at the two pouting symbiotes expectantly. Frenzy unsubspaced an energon cube, and handed it to her.

Paradox numbly took it, her shocked gaze still not leaving Soundwave. How could she have _not_ sense him?

"Sorry." They both said in sheepish unison.

After a moment, Soundwave brought his red stare back up to her.

Paradox blinked, and then blinked again before she realized what was going on. "Oh-yes! It's okay, I forgive you."

Without a word, Soundwave turned and walked away. Rumble and Frenzy hesitantly followed him, and Paradox just stared. Because she couldn't figure out for the life of her, _how_ the silent mech kept doing that.

* * *

 **And we'll end it right there with Paradox gawking into space. Lol, tahnks for reading. Sorry if there's any mistakes, it's late. Can't wait to read your review!**


	7. No Room for Weak

**Hey sorry for not updating last week. I had a crap-ton of homework and projects.**

 **WhiteDiamondNinja8484: Yup.**

 **Matronium: Yes, he does. In my take on Soundwave, there's more to him than just a monotonous drone with a spark. There's reasons as to why he always wears a mask/visor, and prefers to be emotionally-detached.**

 **PathBeater: Why, thank you, I love reading your review! Oh yes, the scientist is an OC, but definitely going to come around more later. Yes, as you can tell I love writing them! And yes, the rest of the symbiotes will be introduced! Glad you noticed XD**

 **SunnySides: Yes, that is exactly what I was going for!**

 **ChillingShadow: Thank you, and yesss! Oh yes, Paradox has a lot to learn. She's still fairly new to all this.**

 **99uftballonsx.o.x: Lol thanks!**

 **I've been focusing on Paradox a lot, even though it's 3rd POV. So, I'm gonna try and get a little bit of Soundwave's perspective from time to time.**

* * *

Seven: No Room for Weak

The large metal doors to the command center split opened. Soundwave didn't have to look up to know it was Starscream. The click of his unusual heeled pedes and the egotism flaring from his spark signature was more than enough evidence. However, the big silver mech sitting on the throne in the middle of the command center grunted in exasperation.

"Lord Megatron," The Seeker's scratchy voice rang out.

"I'm not in the mood for a helm-ache, Starscream." Megatron grumbled, "Whatever you want to argue about will have to wait for tomorrow."

Starscream scoffed dramatically, "I'm not here argue. I just thought you might wanted to know that Knock Out finally got that Cybertax in."

Megatron made a bored sound of acknowledgement, "Is that all?"

"Not _quite_ ," Starscream spat the last word with venom and hate, before barking out, "Soundwave!"

Soundwave's fingers only faltered slightly at the outburst, but other than that, he didn't respond. Even if Starscream was technically, higher-ranking than him, Soundwave almost never paid him any attention. His whiny, deceitful, and over dramatic qualities were not something Soundwave saw as respectful, and he was sure the only reason why Megatron kept him around is because he could control the Seekers.

"Your little _pests_ keep swapping out the energon in the lounge, sneaking into my mech's rooms, and re-painting their armor!"

Soundwave resisted the urge to sigh. He'd have to reprimand Rumble and Frenzy later, but now, he was working on the coordinates to an Autobot outpost far out near Tygar Pax. Starscream kept going on and on about Rumble ad Frenzy's antics, but stopped when he realized Soundwave wasn't paying attention and turned to Megatron.

"Are you just going to sit there and let this happen?"

"If it is at the expense of you," Megatron's optics gleamed darkly with mirth, "Then yes."

Starscream scoffed, "You think this is funny? This is a warship, not a playground! Soundwave better get those two glitches under control, or I can't promise that the next time I see them that I won't do it myself."

It was the underlying threat that had Soundwave glancing sharply at the Seeker Commander. "Starscream; making a threat?"

A devious smile curled on the edges of his lip-plates at finally getting Soundwave's attention. He shrugged nonchalantly, "It's only fair to return the favor."

"Starscream will not seek retaliation," Soundwave replied stiffly, his optics narrowing behind his visor, "I will handle symbiotes."

"You better." Starscream retorted, still not losing the threatening edge to his voice. The room went silent, as both Megatron and Starscream waited eagerly for a reaction.

Soundwave didn't give them one, and instead returned to the task at hand. Slightly miffed, Starscream turned back to the Lord Protector.

"How's my new recruits doing, Starscream?" Megatron rumbled, examining his sharp claws.

"Okay, I guess. The only really useful ones are the brutes big enough to do heavy labor. And that...femme."

Soundwave's digit's faltered again, but this time he was confused as to why. The two other Commanders didn't seem to notice, even as he angled himself just enough that he could see them while he continued hacking the location signal.

"We have a femme?" Megatron seemed more intrigued than surprised. For some reason, his interest in the femme didn't settle well with Soundwave. It rubbed him the wrong way, and his carrier protocols suddenly onlined. Soundwave scowled under his mask, trying to deactivate the protocols, but they weren't going down without a fight.

They were flaring with a considerable need to defend the little femme.

To _protect_.

His irritation aroused his symbiotes, and they all sent him worried and questionable thoughts back. Soundwave all reassured them that they had nothing to worry about, and went on with his task, ignoring the protocols. It was probably a glitch, and if it is, he could always get one of the set of twins to help him fix it.

"Yes, I've observed her during training. A good, very versatile fighter..."

Soundwave was reminded of the night that he had to drag the cumbersome femme all the way to her hidden quarters. And the clumsy, yet quick hits she probably would have landed if it was anybot other than him. Soundwave shook his helm slightly, snapping himself out of his musings. What was wrong with him? It wasn't like him for his mind to be distracted while on duty. In fact, his was _rarely_ distracted at all.

It shouldn't matter at all that Starscream and Megatron were discussing her. She wasn't important.

He forced himself to give his full attention back to the enormous screen in front of him.

"...But too small, and not armored enough to take hits in battle. I have her as a low-ranking soldier right now, not quite sure what to do with her."

There was a ping: _Location found._

Soundwave quickly downloaded the new information, satisfied for completing his task and turned to the silver Lord Protector.

"Lord Megatron," His deep, monotone voice rumbled, "Autobot Output location; discovered."

"Very well Soundwave," Megatron grinned viciously as his optics read over the coordinates, "You'll leave in five groons to infiltrate it. Take which ever symbiotes you need to assist you. I want that whole database drained."

Soundwave nodded, about to comm Laserbeak and Buzzsaw to assist him on the mission when Megatron spoke up again.

"Oh, and Soundwave."

Soundwave paused halfway towards the exit, turning his helm slightly to one side, "My Lord?"

His optics darkened with something unreadable, "I want _no_ survivors."

Not affected in the least, Soundwave merely nodded, and headed out the large doors.

* * *

The blazing sun beat down on to the desert land, nearly frying Paradox's circuits as she cruised across the terrain. It was, unusually warm today, since Cybertron was in the middle of the Dark Cycles. Her patrol round was coming close to an end, and she rolled up the ramp onto the warship. Pradox transformed, just a few feet away from the security check point. The violent femme bent her knee-plating, before springing up in a flawless leap, her claws catching the edges of a ridge, and she climbed up to the next level.

Not that it wasn't hard to get pass security, but Paradox found using this way more enthralling. She also noticed, a blindspot in the cameras, and knew that when the time came, this would be the spot she'd tell the Autobot's to infiltrate through. She was about to climb some more when she saw the shadow of a figure approaching. Cursing swiftly, she crouched down, thanking Primus she was small enough that she could fit in-between the two metal bars easily.

As the shadow came near, it morphed and stretched until the bot looked like it was crawling on it's pedes and servos. Paradox raised and optic ridge, leaning in slightly between the bars to get a better view. She had to bit her lip-plate to keep from yelping as a _huge,_ Cyber-Cat came sauntering out of the shadows. She remembered encounter a Cyber-Cat once or twice in the zoos of Praxus when she was a sparkling, but they were _nothing_ like this one.

Its painting was as dark as night, sharp long claws and matching rows of denta. It had one, large crimson optic, two twin rifles built on to it's hips, and a long, silver tail with spike trailing down either sides.

It was a Cyber-Cat from Pit.

The violet femme held her breath as the thing stopped, it's snout in twitched, and a low growl rumbled from it's chest. That crimson optic glared in her direction, and for a split second, she panicked, imagining it's large fangs sinking into her armor and tearing her apart piece by piece. But then it's helm snapped back up, and without another word(or sound even) it leapt off the high beam and onto the platform.

Curiosity compelled her to follow it, but at a much, _much_ further distance.

 _Where is it going?_ She thought to herself, watching it warily as it basically sauntered across the roof. She had her answer a moment later, when a tall, slim figure touched down on top of the roof.

Soundwave.

She watched him walk up to the thing, as if it wasn't a huge, razor-sharp beast, and her jaw dropped when the Cyber-Cat lunged into the air, right at him. But instead of crashing into him, the Cyber-Cat transformed, just as Soundwave's chassis opened to reveal small slots. It slid into there perfectly, and once it was complete, his chassis snapped shut.

 _He has another symbiote?_ Paradox's scarlet optics widened.

Her audio sensor twitched, picking up on the sound of swift wings cutting through the wind, and her optics snapped up above. Two small creatures circled above in the air, before swooping down to land perfectly on the roof.

"Laserbeak, Buzzsaw." Soundwave's voice brought her attention back to him, "Databursting coordinates. Objective; infiltrate Autobot Outpost 96."

Paradox's spark sank a little. That was the outpost in Tygar Pax, the one where she had transferred from. It was where she had met Retrobeam, realized who she truly wanted to become, and what she wanted to do for her planet.

The two robots spring back into the sky, transforming into little jets, and Soundwave takes off after them.

* * *

Paradox was relieved to see the navy blue femme back at the Med Bay again. She was tending to a Vehicon's arm, quietly humming a strange tune. The little femme waited patiently by the bench across from her, silently observing her. She seemed content, happy even, as she finished his weld and nodded for him to get up. Nightblade turned to Paradox, pink optics softening as she smirked, leaning against the counter.

"Go ahead."

Paradox raised an optic ridge, "Go ahead what?"

Nightblade rolled her optics in amusement, "Tell me what's on your processor. If you keep it in any longer I'm sure you'll glitch."

Paradox flushed, and averted her optics to the ground. "It's nothing really. I mean, you just seem so... happy when you do your job."

Paradox watched the femme's lips press into a hard line, before she forced herself to smile again. She also noticed her servos drumming softly against the counter, but chose not to comment about it.

"I've always wanted to help people, ever since I was a sparkling." Nightblade's optics clouded over with a distant memory, and then, she shook her helm and sighed, "But things change, life changes. Sometimes it doesn't always go the way you want it to go. You just have to make do with what you have."

"Nightblade," The violet femme said softly, "Why are you here if this doesn't make you happy? What's the point of staying?"

She chuckled softly, "Better be careful there kid. These Cons have optics everywhere, and you don't want them to catch you saying something like that."

Paradox tensed, eyeing the camera in the corner of the Med Bay, before looking back up at the older femme. Nightblade moved away from the counter, and began cleaning some tools. Paradox couldn't help the wave of melancholy that washed over her. It was clear that she was being forced here against her will, just like it was obvious she wasn't happy.

How could anybot really be happy trapped within these walls?

Paradox silently vowed that she would do whatever it takes to free Nightblade from whatever that is keeping her here. It was true the femme did have a bit of a harsh bedside manner, but pooling in those pink optics just under the surface was how much she cared. And she sure did like to fuss a lot with Paradox, even about the smallest of things like refueling. The blue medic looked around for a moment, as if deciding something before grabbing her servo and leading her towards the back. Once she was sure they were alone, she looked at Paradox with pleading optics.

"You got to keep your guard up here. Don't trust anyone, there's a good chance they'll double cross you. These mechs here don't do anything unless it benefits themselves or brings someone else down."

Paradox froze, trying to find the words to say, "Why...Why would you tell me all this?"

Nightblade's emotions dulled, and her face-plates returned to the hard expression. "Because there's no room for the weak." Just as she had said it, the door swung open, and the soldier Paradox learned was Breakdown was waiting on the other side.

He took one look at the two femmes and his optics narrowed warily, "What are you doing back here?"

"Nothing, we were just leaving." Nightblade replied quickly, trying to urge Paradox and herself out of the room when Breakdown's servo clasped on to the blue medic's arm. With a wicked smile, he said, "Lord Megatron requests your presence."

Anger flared up in Paradox's spark and washed through her systems as she watched Breakdown 'escort' her to Lord Megatron. She wished so badly she could do something, anything to help. She hated herself for being so useless, when it was clear Nightblade needed her.

 _On a mission._ She needed to remind herself, _On a mission. For the better of Cybertron. For the good of everybot._

Besides, Nightblade was right. In the Decepticon ranks, there was no room for the weak.

* * *

 **Sorry it's a little short, I hope that wasn't too much of an awkward place to end the chapter! Next will definitely be longer ;)**


	8. Trust and Truths

**I think there was a little bit of confusion from last chapter. Nightblade was the one going to see Megatron, and Paradox was upset because she couldn't do anything to stop it. Hope that clears it up for you :)**

 **Reader-Writer-Animator: Haha thanks, and no that's Nightblade going to see her. I know, right?**

 **The Silvernote: Thanks. All will be revealed...soon.**

 **WhiteDiamondNinja8484: Haha, yeah but not _quite_ yet!**

 **SunnySides: Yep. Those dang protocols XD**

 **ChillingShadow: Haha, thanks for the mental image! *grins* You're welcome. Haha shields, I love it!**

* * *

Eight: Trust and Truths

"I don't know _what's_ going on," Paradox sighed with a shake of her helm, "But it's probably best if I stayed oblivious." She crossed her servos against her chassis.

The twins, were currently tinkering with a bucket of questionable fluids, hanging it right outside of Starscream's hatch. Frenzy was standing on top of Rumble's shoulder's, hacking into the wiring that automatically opens up the hatch. Rumble shifted, and Frenzy started wobbling, flailing his servos out until he had steadied himself. He then reached down and whacked Rumble in the helm.

"What was that for?!" Rumble growled out in protest.

"For not staying fraggin' still. You know how hard it would be to clean this out of our joints if it spills on us?" Frenzy chastised.

"Well hurry up. I can't keep your fat aft off the ground forever." His twin retorted, and Frenzy rolled his optics before going back to hacking.

"And don't expect me to be your look out forever," The violet femme added, from beside them, leaning against the wall, "I actually do have other duties to perform."

"Oh, trust me. This will be worth it." Frenzy replied with a wicked grin.

Paradox rolled her optics, "What did he do _this_ time?"

"That glitch was going around, tellin' everybot that he wasn't afraid of Soundwave, and if he stepped outta line, he'd pulverize us." Frenzy scoffed, "Thinks just because Soundwave ain't on the base means that he won't here what that cone-head's been yappin' about."

"Did he?" Paradox muttered absentmindedly.

"Yep. Soundwave said to ignore him, but...we just decided it was better to take things into our own servos." Frenzy then went on.

"Slagger won't even know what hit him," Rumble added with the same matching grin, "Until it's too late, of course."

Paradox snorted, "And when your boss finds out that you disobeyed his order?"

The twins froze for a nanosecond, before Frenzy scoffed. "Oh please. Soundwave owes us this much at least, since we didn't get to go on the mission."

"What mission?" Paradox asked.

"Just invading some Autobot outpost," Frenzy answered with a shrug, "Not a big deal, but still. It would be nice to get out and do other stuff once in a while, and not just analyze security footage all day. The worst part is, he brings everybody _but_ us."

"Yeah," Rumble agreed, "Then he had the nerve to wake us out of recharge to _demand_ that we set up some security cameras in Shocky's lab."

"Cameras, huh?" Paradox echoed, an idea coming to mind. Soundwave's absence on base would be the only chance she'd get at a glimpse of whatever weapon the mad scientist was cooking up in his laboratory. All she would have to do is adjust the setting just a little bit...

"Yeah," Frenzy replied offhandedly, "The mech's insanely paranoid. Kept complaining to Megatron that he was hearing pede-steps at night near his lab." He scoffed, "Highly unlikely. What sane bot would want to willingly go into that creepy mech's lab?"

 _I have to._ She thought solemnly on the inside, but on the outside responded with a nonchalant shrug. "I'd do it."

Both of the twins paused in their mischief, to stare at the slim, violet femme with wide optics. Their unusual silence irked Paradox, and she looked back up at them, still going for indifference.

"What?"

"Did you just...Did you just say you'd do it?"

She nodded, "Yes."

 _"Willingly?"_

She pushed herself off the wall, "I don't see why not. My patrol doesn't start for another four or five groons."

The twins still stared at her with those shocked, wide optics. The silence was becoming uncomfortable, and Paradox shifted her weight from one pede to the other. Why did they insist on staring at her like that? Was she too suspicious? Could they see through her cover? Have they figured it all out?

Their stare became too intense, and she looked away, "It's fine if you don't want me to. I didn't realize volunteering would upset you so much." The violet femme admitted rather sheepishly.

This seemed to snap them out of their trances.

"No, no. It's not that." Frenzy said, hopping down from his brother's shoulders, "It's just...no bot's ever cared that much about us, before. I mean, besides Soundwave. Even though sometimes we annoy the slag out of you. Pit, we probably _always_ annoy the slag out of you...but, you're standing right here, covering for us so we can pull off a prank, even though getting caught by a higher-rank here could get you in serious trouble. You see something in us, when all everybody else sees is a couple of loud-mouth, troublemakers. You really _care_ , don't you?"

The femme was taken aback by the symbiotes words, which she slowly processed. That small pang of guilt grew larger in her chassis, burning white-hot like a plasma cannon charging up. She didn't want to use or deceive them, especially not when they thought this highly of her. Not when they were opening up to her, and _trusting_ her. It may be apart of her mission, and her processors was telling her _yes._ But her spark was screaming _no._

This was all happening too fast. It's only been about three Deca-cycles.

How could they just trust her like this?

It was too much.

Unwanted emotions bubbled up in her chassis, leaving her spark rolling in rapid turmoil. But instead of speaking up on these emotions, she shoved them down as best as she could. A thin smile curled on the edges of her lip-plates as she looked at Frenzy.

"Yes, I do." _A lie._

Her spark positively sunk at the happiness that washed over their features, and in turned, brightened their optics.

 _For the good of Cybertron._ She kept repeating over and over in her helm.

Why was it, that every time she said it, it became less of a proud mantra, and more of a poor reassurance?

* * *

Paradox used the shadows, as Jazz had taught her. Slipping in and out of them, until she had arrived at her designation. The hatch to Shockwave's lab was a lot larger than a normal one, and it size could rival the command center's. But she didn't wast any time gawking at the size, and her digits glided over the keypad at the side of the door. With a ping, the hatch unlocked, and opened a lot slower than normal ones do.

Waves of icy cold air seeped through the open hatch, and a shiver ran down her spinal strut. Her armor clamped tightly to her frame to preserve more heat, her door wings were sticking straight up, straining to pick up on any signs of movement or spark signature. Supposedly, Shockwave would be at a meeting right now, but she still had to be cautious.

Her optics did widen, as she stared in horror, at the mess in front of her. It was much like the creepy lab the mech with purple optics owned, by a lot more disorganized. Blades, ranging from a small at her digit to the size of her whole forearm laid cluttered on a table, along with various other menacing tools and armor parts. Up on the wall above it was a collection of random organic anatomic parts, from planets not far from Cybertron. Eyes, wings, tongues, tails, intestines, and bones all hung on the wall, and the dim green lights placed around the table projected macabre shadows on to the wall. There were plenty of maps and diagrams of Cybertronian anatomy, and also organic species. Along with large skeletons, and another display case full of helms.

The femmes tanks churned at the horrific sight, and she forced herself to look away. So many lives were either lost or ruined to Shockwave and his horrendous experiments, Countless of many innocent victims, all screaming and begging for mercy while they were being torn open, dissected, analyzed, and then spliced back together in ways that no Cybetronian is meant to be.

Paradox shivered again, this time in rage.

This was just a reminder, of who the Decepticons really were. There may be some redeeming ones like Nightblade, Rumble, and Frenzy, but most of the population were evil, sadistic, beings who only cared for themselves. And with that, Paradox began to set up extra cameras around the ghastly lab, making sure to keep them well hidden, and also adding a simple hacking code so that it would loop into footage before she came inside.

She then went to the gigantic screen on the opposite wall, with a large console the length of Megatron himself. Her digits danced expertly over the keys, hacking through the system's security and firewalls within a breem. A video feed popped up, and she enlarged the screen, where it showed a long dark table, with mechs surrounding it. It was the meeting. Although the live feed was muted, she could tell that the Air Commander and Shockwave were having some of argument. Paying no more interest to it, she activated the infrared tracker to notify her when Shockwave leaves the room.

Once she was done, she went about snooping around. She's heard so much about this secret weapon, and now it was time to see it for herself.

She snooped as far as she dared through the large cabinet above the shelf of sharp blades. Much like the other lab, the cabinet was stacked with different, murky liquids. But the liquid that caught her optics was the opaque green mixture with the disturbing aroma. This was one of the canisters from the crate of liquid she had to deliver.

Carefully, she reached out and grabbed it, making sure to not spill any of it. Her optics grazed over the container, scanning. Unfortunately, she couldn't pick up much. While she could still sense things to a certain degree, most of her sensors were in her door wings, which dedicated themselves to tracking any movement or spark signatures.

 _Beep. Beep._

The tracking device went off, and she briefly glanced at the live feed to see the officers leaving.

She wouldn't have enough time.

Cursing to herself, she carefully subspaced the canister, and erased evidence of her intrusion. She gave the eerie lab one last fleeting look, before slipping between the hatch doors.

* * *

Paradox walked into the lounge hesitantly. Usually Rumble or Frenzy would bring her energon so she wouldn't have to make these trips, but she wanted to make it up to Nightblade for unintentionally getting her in trouble.

Or at least, that's what she _thought_ that she did.

She kept her armor tight to her protoform, door wings low as she walked through the rather crowded lounge. Conversations seemed to dim down, and optics trailed on to her frame for a moment, before the conversations continued. Now they were just about her. Rolling her optics, she grabbed two cubes at the dispenser, waiting patiently to pour the energon when her frame goes extremely still.

Somebot just touched- no, not even a touch- _caressed_ her wings. Right in the middle of the lounge, and everyone saw it.

There were low snickers, and fury was the first coherent emotion that sizzled her circuits. She spun around tightly, wings flying up straight so that they were no longer in reach. The tall mech she faced didn't even look remotely remorseful, and he stood there with a wide smirk. Paradox just couldn't figure out why the mechs always thought it was a good idea to touch her wings. They were highly _sensitive,_ and she already had a low tolerance for touch as it was.

Her anger only diminished slightly when she realized all he was trying to do was get a rise out of her. She turned back around, refusing to entertain the lazy mechs. She ignored him, and went back to pouring the energon, even though hers was boiling under her armor. That only lasted for a few more astroseconds, before the mech tried to reach for her wings again. This time she sensed it, and turned around.

"Don't _touch_ me!" She hissed, claws tightening into a hard fist.

The mech was much taller than her, but that didn't bother her in the slightest. He leaned, getting into the violet femme's face to try and intimidate her. She just crossed her servos and snorted. There was only _one_ mech who could actually pull that look off and scare her, and it sure as Pit wasn't him.

"Aren't you a cute, little thing?" He drawled, earning a few more chuckles from other around him.

Paradox's gritted her denta, "Touch my wings again and I'll show you just how _cute_ I am when I rip your digits off one by one."

This stirred up some 'oohs' from the crowd, but she was barely paying attention. She was sick of being pushed around because she was a small femme. It was time she stood her ground, so they would know, once and for all, to leave her alone.

"I'd watch it if I were you," he sneered, with a shake of his helm, "Femmes. Why would Megatron enlist them? The only thing their glossa's are good for is-"

Paradox snapped.

With a satisfying _crack_ of metal, her small fist connected to his jaw. Silence blanketed over the lounge, every optic now watching with indiscreet interest. It took a moment for the mech to register what just happened. Paradox smirked wickedly, enjoying this moment all too much.

"Anything else to say? Oh please, inform me on what my glossa is good for. I dare _you_." On the 'you' part, she had taken a step forwad, and slammed her digit into his chassis.

Loud murmurs came from the crowd around, and before Paradox could respond, white-hot pain flashed in her helm, which was tilted to the side with how powerful the blow was. She couldn't help the gasp of pain, and the mech with burning red optics grinned with satisfaction. Optics narrowed dangerously, she wiped the dribble of energon that gathered in the corner of her mouth, before charging at him.

Because of her speed, she managed to get some good shots in. Aiming for the face or torso, and also managed to claw hi across the side of his chassis. But her luck ran out when he managed to grab her, and throw her against the wall. The lounge was wild with cheers and howls, chanting out her opponents designation. The collision knocked the breath out of her tanks, and she wheezed, before grunting again as his fist connected to her cheek-plating in a hard, but sloppy punch.

She pushed herself away, and began dodging the many punches thrown at her. The chanting grew louder, and her helm ached as it raced, trying to figure out a way to beat her opponent. Unlike most of her tormentors, this mech was slim and tall, instead of the usual gruff and bulky, so he was faster. She tried to go on the offense again, but had to duck at use her servos to block what would have been a rather painful blow to the face. And the blows kept raining down on her.

Her pedes were knocked out from under her, and she ungracefully fell to the floor. The chanting was at screeching levels, as they wrestled on the floor, struggling to pin each other. Paradox gave it all she had; kicking, punching, scratching. She managed to nick him somewhere above his left optics in a fury of movements, but that only made him snarl, and grab her by her shoulders, before slamming her into the ground repeatedly.

By now, her vision was getting blurry. The volume along with how many blows she was taking to the helm was starting to get to her, and her movements became much sluggish. He rammed an uppercut into her chassis, once again, knocking the breath out of her. Her whole frame felt was a lit with pain, but she couldn't move. She couldn't even at least shield her face as he winded up his servo to deliver the final blow. She squeezed her optics shut, and waited for it to happen.

"Hey! Break it up in here!" Two Vehicons came pushing through the crowd, armed with blasters.

One pulled the taller mech of her, and even though it had pain racing down her spinal strut, she sighed in relief. A servo grabbed her forearm harshly, yanking her off of the ground and only bringing more pain. She bit down on her lip-plate to keep from hissing out in pain, and let herself be 'escorted' out of the lounge.

* * *

"Are you out of your fragging processor?" Nightblade snapped, switching between welding the cut under her optic back together, and ranting at her, "Getting into a fight? With a trained, lethal soldier too? Oh for Primus sakes Paradox, are you trying to get yourself offlined?!"

The violet femme said nothing, but glared at the ground.

Nightblade sighed, swallowing her anger so that she could try to understand the femme's actions. "What happened?"

"He touched my wings." She grumbled lowly.

The blue femme nodded in understanding. Her door wings were very sensitive appendages because she was Praxian, and it was just disrespectful to touch another Cybetronian's wings without permission anyway. Not that she'd think the Decepticons would care about that last part as much.

Paradox sighed, shaking her helm, "I'm sorry...I was just so tired of being picked on, groped, and being called a whore because I am a _femme_! It's not right! Why do they do this?" She turned to Nightblade, "How the Pit do you even handle this?"

Nightblade gave a wry smile, "I try to ignore it as much as possible."

She was right. Internally, Paradox cursed herself for not having enough self-control. Was it just a norm for femmes from Kaon to just ignore this prejudice? What if she was called up by her superiors? Would they find out the truth?

"I shouldn't have lost control," She admitted much more sheepishly, and sighed again, "I'm sorry."

"I understand your anger, trust me I share it as well. But to survive her, you just have to pick your battles and know when it's a good time to fight or not." Th femme's optics softened, "I just want you to be careful."

The violet femme said nothing, but frowned at the ground.

Nightblade sighed again. She was young, and she would have a lot to learn. She gave her shoulder-plating a comforting squeeze, "You should go rest. You've had a long day, and your frame needs to heal."

Paradox nodded, standing up slowly. But before she walked out, she pushed down the stinging pain that seem to come with subspacing, and handed the murky green canister to her.

The blue medic stared at it with a raised optic ridge, "What is it?"

"Not entirely sure, but I do know that it is extremely powerful source. Do you mind analyzing it for me?" She asked slowly, feeling a little embarrassed.

Nightblade glanced down at the canister again, before smiling softly, "Of course not."

* * *

It was very late in the orn when Soundwave had returned. The Lunar Cycle was almost at its end, and he had entered his own quarters. As expected, Rumble and Frenzy were recharging across the large console instead of keeping an optic out. But he was satisfied that they put up the cameras, so he wouldn't scold them too much.

He picked both of them up gently, and Frenzy stirred, cracking open one optic.

"Boss?" He mumbled tiredly.

"Frenzy; resume recharge." Soundwave replied, trying to coax him by rocking him softly. A dazed smile spread across his lip-plates, and he blinked slowly, "Glad you're back."

"Frenzy; resume-"

"I know, I know." Frenzy yawned, before cuddling up against his chassis, right next to his spark.

Soundwave would have let him stayed that way, if he hadn't had something he would do after this. So as quickly and gently as he could, he laid to two symbiotes down on the berth, and slipped through the hatch doors again.

There were a camera malfunctioning, and Soundwave wouldn't recharge until he fixed it. He had to maintain perfect and accurate security of the base. He was on his way down to hall to where the camera was positioned, when his advanced audio sensors picked up on the soft sounds of grunts. And then, there was the sounds of hitting.

Someone was in the training room.

Normally, Soundwave would ignore the grunts and continue walking, but the sounds of the vocalizer was unmistakable. It was the femme.

* * *

Paradox swung angrily at the suspended punching bag again. Her shaky servos were balled into tight fists, and her small chassis heaved up and down rapidly for more air. She just couldn't recharge, the events of earlier had plagued her mind. It was becoming to a point where it pissed her off all over again, and the best thing to do was go vent it off.

So now here she was, several hours into the Lunar cycle, beating the punching bag mercilessly as if it was the source of all her misfortune. She was so preoccupied with punching the ever-loving slag out of the punching bag, that she didn't bother to check for a spark signature entering the room. And even when she did pick up on it, she didn't stop. She just kept punching and punching, until the wild rage subsided.

Finally, with one last heated punch, she swung with all she had, and it flew off the chain and into the wall. Finally satisfied, she turned away from the abused bag and turned to meet her observer.

"Soundwave..." She said breathlessly, still trying to steady her breathing.

Soundwave, as always, was silent. Except for the tiny nod he gave of acknowledgement.

"What are you doing here?" She huffed between breaths. She was too tired to be polite or formal.

Soundwave seemed to ignore the blunt question entirely, and instead focused on the small little wound below her optic. Beneath his visor, he frowned. Someone had touched her.

Someone had _hurt_ her.

The Carrier protocols threatened to turn itself on again, and Soundwave had to forcefully tear his gaze away from her wound to keep the protocols and unwanted emotions at bay. He didn't know why it bothered him so much, and he was almost tempted to reach up and fix it. The welds were done too quickly, and he wanted them to be perfect, so that she would heal properly. And then, he wondered why he even cared.

"Query redirected." He finally spoke up after some time.

Paradox looked away flustered, "I'm just...blowing off steam."

"Another Query." Her optics snapped back up to him. "What happened to optic?"

At first, pure rage flashed across her fierce red optics. And then, guilt and sorrow. Soundwave silently noticed that her servos kept clenching and un-clenching. A habit, he assumed, she must do whenever she was upset.

"I was in a fight." She finally admitted. Without another word, she turned to the next punching bag, and began her unholy attack all over again.

Soundwave watched her through most of it. It was true what Starscream had said earlier, she was a good agile fighter. She just needed to learn how to take hits back.

And that's the excuse he gave himself, for softly grabbing her servo to stop her from punching the bag again. Startled, her helm snapped up to his. For a long moment, they just stared at each other. Sizing the other one up, wondering who would make the next move.

"Attack me." Soundwave rumbled.

Paradox blinked, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Attack me." Soundwave repeated.

"Why?" She asked warily.

"Femme must practice fighting."

"I _know_ how to fight." She protested indignantly.

Soundwave was almost tempted to roll his optics. Did the femme not understand he was trying to spar with her? Help her?

"Femme needs the practice to...let go." Soundwave said slowly, testing it out to see how it sounded. He wasn't so sure, outside of his symbiotes, he didn't try to comfort bots.

The violet femme's face-plates morphed into confusion for an astrosecond, before she finally dawned in realization.

"You want me to spar with you?" She asked, just as slowly.

Soundwave nodded.

Paradox looked away, deciding if this was a good idea. She has been warned about Soundwave, she's heard some of the horror stories about Megatron's silent right hand mech from some Autobots. There wasn't a lot of things she'd expect from Soundwave, because he was unpredictable, and this was just an example.

He was offering...some comfort. Kind of.

She then sighed deeply, wrenching her servo out of his grip, and easing down into a fighting position. _What the pit,_ She thought sourly. She needed to hit something alive today anyway.

* * *

 **Holy crap this was longer than I expected! But hey, you're welcome!**


	9. Revelations

**OMG.**

 **I'm so sorry for the long, _long_ break! It was never my intention, by my stupid laptop stopped working. I needed to get it fixed and it took so freaking long! I was so mad I was just _asdfghjkl asdfghjkl asdfghjkl._**

 **Hope you guys didn't give up on this story yet. Once again, I apologize for the freaking LONG wait.**

 **TheSilvernote: Haha, yep! Thanks!**

 **Reader-Writer-Animator: Thank you! And yes, I like slow, developed relationships as well.**

 **WhiteDiamondNinja8484: Hmm...let's just see ;)**

 **moiself: Aw, Thank you!**

 **DawnofShadows256: Thanks, and here ya go!**

* * *

Nine: Revelations

Soundwave was right, she definitely needed that spar.

Although the violet femme ended up with a lot of dents, it was still refreshing. Something different from the tedious everyday schedule that's become her life working on the Nemesis. She might even dare to say she was actually _content_ since her arrival. Well, content up until the point where she had to drag herself out of her berth again to get some energon. Luckily for Paradox, the sun had barely peaked over the dark horizon, and the lounge was completely empty. She sat down, sipping from the cube idly as she watched the sun rise up past the horizon. She used to do it a lot back on the Autobot base.

Late that night before she recharged, she was inspired by Soundwave's ideas to put up some cameras as well. Currently she was walking down the officer's halls, mentally marking good places that wouldn't be suspected. She would have to be very conscientious about it, knowing that Soundwave checks the security footage nonstop. But how?

Paradox froze for a nanoklik, musing on that thought. She would need a diversion, a very _big_ diversion. She supposed she could use one of those 'distractions' Jazz used to terrorize and harass Decepticon outposts. But then, this was a _warship_. Paradox turned a corner, only to be completely knocked off of her pedes and her spinal strut slammed harshly into the ground.

Her red optics stared up wide in unadulterated terror as she stared up at the larger one of Soundwave's symbiotes. It was the Cyber cat from Pit. The dark symbiotes snarled in her face-plates, showing off rows of razor-sharp denta as its claws sunk into the seams of her shoulder joints in a painful way to pin her down. The violet femme knew better than to attack him, so her servos stayed flat against the ground as she silently prayed to Primus it lose interest in her and walk away. The thing growled lowly, it's one red optic narrowing dangerously as it leaned back on its hind-pedes, stiffening as if it was preparing to pounce.

"Ravage; desist."

And that was all it took for the giant Cyber cat to retract its deadly claws and slink off her frame. Paradox still laid there; frozen in fear as she stared up at the ceiling. Her spark was still thrumming wildly in her chassis. Her life had definitely flashed in her optics once or twice. She was still trying to recover from the shock of almost getting ripped to pieces.

Ravage is still glaring and snarling at her, even if he was crouching by the pedes of his owner. That alone was enough to convince Paradox not to move from the ground. The dark mech's cerise visor had an ominous gloom to it as he stared down at her.

"Femme; can stand." He rumbled deeply.

Paradox snorted, "Pit no. I'd like to live past today, thank you."

Soundwave was slightly taken aback by the femme's insubordinate behavior, and he frowned under his visor. That would be something he would have to remind her of later on. He tagged it as a mental note and then replied, "Femme; commanded to stand."

Paradox sighed in frustration. Couldn't he see that his symbiote looked like he wanted to tear her spark out? Before she could even make a move to stand, Soundwave grabbed her forearm, and yanked her whole frame up off the ground in one pull. The violet femme staggered a bit from the change in balance, before steadying herself.

She didn't realize Soundwave was _that_ strong.

The mech cocked his helm, "Was it so complex?"

She huffed indignantly. He was mocking her. "No! It's just that...you're symbiote nearly ripped my face-plates off."

Soundwave gave a small shake of his helm, "Ravage; will not attack unless provoked."

"Then what did I do?"

Soundwave didn't think he had enough conversations in his life to describe himself as 'speechless', but he did pause momentarily to send Ravage a questioning ping. The eldest symbiote didn't answer, but instead snarled his obvious dislike of the femme over their bond. Soundwave wasn't very pleased with the answer, but decided he would question Ravage another time. Instead, he took the time to look at all of the dents from their spar, and a tiny piece of satisfaction bloomed inside of him, knowing that he was victorious. But another part of him it bothered.

The femme's armor was already thin, and with the scuffs and dents it looked even worse. She looked vulnerable. Which was not a good sign for somebot like her. Soundwave didn't like that at all.

Slowly, his dexterous digits extended towards her, touching the biggest dent on her cheek. Paradox flinched in surprise under his touch, but it did not deter him. His servo dropped to her chin, moving her helm from side to side to examine all the bruises. And then, his digits traveled softly across her armor, his touch so light that it was like a ghost.

Paradox wasn't sure why, but she found herself leaning into the touch. It seemed innocent enough, and she figured he only was curious about examining her dents. Her frame's aching had reduced to a dull throb, but that was until his symbiote had tackled her. Soundwave's servos were near her waist, where she collected the most of them. She couldn't even bother counting the many times he had grabbed her by her hips and slammed her on to the cold, unforgiving ground.

But it was a dangerous thing she was doing. The only reason she could come up with for leaning into the touch and closing her optics was that her frame was still exhausted. His digits trailed to a rather nasty dent on her right hip. Her lip-plates parted in a silent moan of pain as he examined the armor. Soundwave stared down at the dented plating for a few nanoseconds, before he brings his visor back up to Paradox's face-plates. Her optics were closed, and she almost looked peaceful.

 _Crunch._

Paradox's optics flashed open as pain raced down her body and thrummed from her hip. She gasped, and Soundwave let her go. She staggered back into the wall, grasping the broken armor on her hip while trying to suppress the overwhelming amount of pain. Once the pain stopped feeling like it was going to tear her apart, her burning optics locked onto that cold visor which hadn't stopped staring at her.

"What the frag?" She hissed, her voice laced with static.

"Femme armor; too weak. Suggestion; receive an upgrade." Soundwave answered.

"And you couldn't just _tell_ me that?"

"Femme has just been informed." And then he walked away, with Ravage following at his pedes.

Despite the pain, Paradox snorted, waiting until he was a good distance away before cursing him out with every swear word she could think of. She stared at her broken hip plating again and then cursed herself.

Jazz was right.

Soundwave was unpredictable and dangerous, she shouldn't have been so foolish. She was startled by a commlink ping from Nightblade.

 _:Paradox.:_

 _:Yes?:_ The slim, little femme replied.

 _:I've finished analyzing that canister for you. And.:_ Nightblade paused for a moment, _:you may want to come and see this.:_

 _:I'm on my way.:_

* * *

The violet femme got to the med bay as fast as she could, even if her hip protested in agony. She hid her limp well though, as she walked over to Nightblade. Her voice was urgent and full of worry over the commlink, so whatever she had found needed to be discussed promptly. Her hip could wait.

"What did you find?" Paradox asked.

Nightblade's lip-plates parted to answer her, but before she did, she stopped herself. Eyeing the younger femme, she raised an optic ridge and gave her a look that silently stated "whatever this is will be discussed later," before looking around and ushering her into the back of the med bay. Nightblade went around the corner, checking for any signatures before coming back with the glowing green canister.

"Where did you get this?" She asked sternly.

Paradox paused for a moment. While it was clear the blue medic wasn't completely loyal to the Decepticons, it didn't mean she was entirely trustworthy. The violet femme smily shrugged a shoulder, "No clue. Knock Out ordered me to have it analyzed."

Nightblade's lip-plates pulled into a wary frown for a moment, before she shook her helm, "Well, did you know that eighty percent of this substance is made of Zephur?"

Nightblade shot an expectant look at her, as if she should know what Zephur is. Paradox raised an optic ridge.

"Remember what I said about Cybertronium being one of the most dangerous drugs? Well, this is _is_ the most dangerous. Not only does it corroded metal, this drug can shut down systems in your processors, paralyze you, and not to mention it can gnaw through your protoform to get to your spark! Why would Knock Out ever have you handle something like this? There was a reason why the drug was completely outlawed and deemed illegal-" Nightblade stopped in the middle of her rant, and there was a short, uneasy silence as her pink optics dimmed, "... well, it _was_ illegal. Until of course, Lord Megatron overthrew the Council." There was an undeniable hint of sadness in her voice that she couldn't cover up no matter how hard she tried. The blue femme's optics seemed to cloud over with a distant memory.

Paradox didn't want to pry, but she was curious. Did this have something to do with the reason Nightblade wasn't entirely loyal to the Decepticons?

"Nightblade?" Paradox asked softly, snapping the blue femme out of whatever she had been re-living. Two pink orbs locked with her ruby ones. "Are you okay?"

"I'm...okay," Nightblade said slowly, making her voice seem distorted. She glanced down at the canister in her servo, and her optics widened before she shoved it into Paradox's servos. Before the femme could open her mouth, Nightblade spoke, "Listen to me, you can _not_ give this to Knock Out. Or any Decepticon for the matter. It's too dangerous. A substance with a powerful, _deadly_ drug like this can do some serious damage to not just their enemies, but Cybertron as a whole. Trust me on this Paradox, I cannot stress how dangerous it would be if this weapon fell into the wrong servos. But you are good, you are smart. I trust you can hide it from them, somewhere where they can't find it, right?"

There it goes again. With the _trust_ word.

The guilt swarmed in her chassis again, and her spark thrummed heavily with a pain for worse than broken hip plate. She just wish they would stop trusting her so easily. How is she supposed to hate the Decepticons, and keep focus on her missions when they start trusting her?

Well, Nightblade was kind of an exception.

But there was something about the blue medic. She was clearly hiding something, and her uncertain loyalties probably had something to do with it. From with the violet femme gathered, she didn't want to be here. But there was something keeping her here. She just hasn't found out what it was, but she swore to herself she would. She really did want to help Nightblade.

Still, she couldn't help but feel guilty. Even though this one wasn't a _full_ lie.

Paradox nodded slowly, "Yes, you can trust me."

Nightblade's optics locked on hers, as if they were searching for something in her deep down in her spark. It kind of reminded her in the way Soundwave sometimes stared at her. She repressed a shiver from her memory of their encounter that morning, and kept her optics locked on Nightblade's unwavering stare for as long as she could. Finally, the blue medic's servo pulled away from the canister.

Paradox took that as a hint to go, and she supspaced the cannister, about to turn and exit when the blue medic cleared her throat loudly. Paradox stopped, and turned around to look at her.

"Don't think just because I was fussing about the cannister didn't mean I noticed your broken hip plate and obvious limp." Nightblade said, crossing her arms with a small smile.

The violet femme sighed, "Can't this wait until after? I swear, it's not as bad as it looks."

"Do you want to do this the hard way or _my_ way?"

"Um...pass?"

"You better go march your aft over to my medberth."

She groaned.

* * *

Later that evening after her patrol, Paradox transformed back into her bi-pedal mode, still trying to get used to her new, more thick armor. It took her half a groon, but she finally had convinced Nightblade to upgrade her armor. The armor surprisingly fit her better than she originally expected, and she would be lying if she said that Soundwave didn't heavily influence her decision. She never wanted something like that to ever happened again.

Although she couldn't help but be a little confused. One moment he was attempting to comfort her, and then when he gets close he just...cracked.

She decided it was best to just avoid him. And since she was, she decided to take a more busier hallway on the Nemesis, which she sure wasn't Soundwave's style. She couldn't help but overhear a piece of two lower-rank's conversation.

"-What was with the rush?"

"They captured an Autobot, found him sleuthing around Kaon."

Paradox froze. She couldn't help the escalating panic was rising in her chest. A million questions raced through her processors. Who was it? Why would the Autobots send them to Kaon? Was it another mission? Could she even save him? Was he already dead?

The two mechs stopped, and she simply walked around them. As much as she wanted to stay and listen, she couldn't look suspicious. She strained her audio receptors.

"-offline?"

"Nah they're questioning him. But with Shockwave's methods, I feel kinda sorry for the poor bastard."

Paradox grimaced, but she couldn't help the relief that poured into her. Shockwave was on a mission an wouldn't be back until late in the Lunar cycle, that gave her enough time to reach him. She calmly switched routes, and looking over a diagram of the Nemesis she downloaded, she took the quickest way to the brig.

When the violent femme arrived at the brig, she wasn't surprised to see it doubled in guards. She frowned, before backing up towards the ventilation shaft. Quickly, she untwisted the screws, and carefully crawled inside before putting it back in place. Following the schematics, she crawled quickly through the vents, thanking Primus for her small size, and trying to keep the worry from rising any further than it already was.

She stopped when she reached her destination, and unscrewed it, before placing it aside carefully. Swiftly, she swung down, landing in a perfect crouch on the ground of the brig, barely making a sound. paradox looked around, scanning her surroundings.

It was dark, with a very ominous feeling that reminded her of the laboratory with the creepy mech with purple optics. She resisted the urge to shiver as she stood to her pedes, and began her descent deeper into the brig. After a few kliks, she paused as two spark signatures showed up on her sensors. Pressing her armor as close to her frame as possible, and dimming her biolights, she prepared herself.

Unsheathing her claws, she made a long, loud enough to be noticeable scratch down the side of the wall. Pedesteps approached, and before the guard even fully made it around the corner, Paradox had kneed him in the abdomen, and when he collapsed to his pedes with a yelp, she knocked him out with a swift punch. Then another set of footsteps came, even more urgent. The violet femme used the wall as a ramp, running up to throw herself on top of the second guard, and with another blow to the helm, the second one fell unconscious.

After a moment, she got up, and walked over to the only cell where the purple energon bars blazed and hummed lowly with energy. Getting as close as she could without burning her face-plates off, she peered into the cell. She tried to find the figure, or at least a silhouette of the Autobot.

Even in the dim light, it shouldn't be that hard. It was as if no bot was even there.

"Hello?" She whispered hesitantly.

There was a long moment of silence, before a figure appeared right in front of her. Her optics widened, and her lip-plates parted with a gasp.

"Mirage?"

* * *

 **Dun**

 **Dun**

 **Dunnnn.**

 **Okay, I'll stop. Anyway, hope that was a good enough chapter, and trust me when I say I will definitely try to update regularly again. I truly do love this small little tale, and I want to see it through. If there are any mistakes, please feel free to tell me. It's pretty late. Anyone wanna guess as to out of all the Autobots, why Mirage shows up? ;)**


	10. Unforeseen Circumstance

**This was meant to be up yesterday, I swear. I just had to finish writing the last scene and I totally forgot about that when I went to post it. On the other side wow, we're almost to 60 reviews. I didn't even see that coming!**

 **Starlight. Moonlight. Sunshine: Thanks!**

 **The Silvernote: haha, thanks! Yes, Mirage is definitely in my top ten. You'll just have to read to find out!**

 **Alexandra-Sasha: You've got the spy part right. I'm not all sure about the brother part lol.**

 **WhiteDiamondNinja8484: ...maybe *wiggles eyebrows***

 **DawnofShadows256: Thank you! Yeah I know, whoops!**

 **Metallicz72: I'm glad you find it interesting, and here's the update!**

* * *

Ten: Unforeseen Circumstance

Soundwave watched the violet femme from afar in the shadowed halls. Her frame had been updated, which he was relieved to. He didn't like the fact that her previous armor was so loose on her. Her frame was tense as she walked, as if there was an invisible force weighing down on her shoulders, and her bright red optics wouldn't leave the ground. The silent communications officer couldn't help but feel like he was partially responsible for her demeanor. He couldn't help himself, he had a reputation to keep up. Just because the femme was small and amused him to a degree didn't mean he cared about her.

He _shouldn't_ care about her.

He could feel his Carrier protocols online again, lurking in the background and waiting for the perfect moment to overtake him. But he refused to let it, even if it felt like someone had plunged their servo into his chest, wrapped it around his spark, and squeezed tightly. Carrier protocols were nothing to take lightly, and Soundwave made a low, barely audible grunt as he rubbed at his chassis.

Curiosity flooded from all of his symbiotes, no doubt they must have felt the protocols online and the odd surge it left.

 _Somethin' up, boss?_ Frenzy asked over the bond, and his twin brother pinged an agreement.

Soundwave resisted the urge to sigh, as the femme disappeared behind the corridor. _Negative. Return to surveillance._

Frenzy groaned, loudly and dramatically, _But we're so booored. And plus, nothing interesting is happening._

 _Yeah, hey can we go visit Paradox?_

His spark stirred again at the mention of her designation. If Soundwave were to indulge in facial expressions, he would probably have chosen to scowl.

 _Negative._

Frenzy whined, and Rumble joined him. _Whhhyyy?_

 _Surveillance is your task._ Soundwave reminded them.

 _Okay...afterwards then?_

Soundwave felt like he would regret saying it, _That is acceptable._

Joy and excitement flooded through the bond, and if Soundwave were to make another facial expression, it would probably be rolling his optics. Ravage's annoyance at the top of the femme pulsed throughout the bond all of a sudden, and Soundwave sent him another questioning ping. He still hadn't clarified his reasons for attacking the femme in the first place.

 _Yeah Ravage, what is your problem?_ Rumble taunted.

Another pulse of annoyance, and then something darker. An image of the violet femme appeared in his processors through Ravage's bond, and the warning along with violent promise he sent across was dangerous and foreboding

* * *

Paradox stared with wide optics at the mech in the dark cell. He was tall, with navy blue and white armor. His light blue optics met hers and brightened with an emotion she couldn't read.

A small smirk curled on to his lip-plates, "Paradox."

She did not return the smirk. Her optics were still wide with a shocked expression, "What the _pit_ are you doing in here?!"

Her processors frantically raced for a logical reason, because none of this made any sense. Out of all the Autobots... _how_ was it even possible for them to capture a mech that could render himself invisible? Not to mention he was their second best saboteur, ranking only one below Jazz! Mirage had been on countless of spy/recon missions, which all went usually smoothly. She should know, she worked in special Ops, and heard the Tower's mech brag about it all the time.

Mirage examined her for a moment, before letting out a low whistle, "I see you've underwent a new look."

Paradox scowled as she was just reminded of her Decepticon appearance, "Of course I did. I'm undercover." She shook her helm, still trying to recover from the blue mech's sudden appearance, "What are you doing here, Mirage?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He went on, in that accented voice.

The violet femme shook her helm.

"I am here for _you_."

She physically reeled back in surprise, "What? For me?"

Mirage nodded shortly, pausing to look around as if he expected someone to jump out from the shadows. When he seemed to calm down, his tense plating loosened and he heaved a sigh as he said, "Do not worry, this was apart of the mission. Optimus was periodically send one of us to check on you, just to make sure everything is going accordingly. You missed a report check in I trust that all is going well?" He asked.

Paradox nodded, suddenly feeling overwhelmed, "Um y-yes! I've been working trying to locate this deadly weapon everyone keeps talking about. Shockwave and Megatron are planning to do some serious damage with it, and I swear as soon as I have enough information I would report."

Mirage seemed to take all of this into consideration, and then nodded, "Anything else we need to know?"

"Well, I'm not entirely sure but...I do believe that one of their medics, Nightblade, isn't entirely loyal to their cause. There's a good chance she could defect, if I could convince her."

This seemed to spark curiosity in his optics, and he stroked his the edge of his face-plate thoughtfully. "Nightblade...that's strange. The designation feels familiar to me."

Paradox raised an optic ridge, "Really? Familiar _how_?"

"I don't know...I feel like I have heard the designation before, from somewhere else." Mirage mused, still looking lost in thought.

Paradox frowned at this. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to take that. An odd silence settled between them, and the violet femme bit her lip-plating. She wasn't sure what to say at all, but she didn't want to leave his presence. This was the first Autobot she's had such close contact with in a while, and even though it was Mirage, who was a little snooty at times, she was grateful for his presence. Her spark lurched in her chassis as she thought of home, back in her little room she shared with Retrobeam.

"Do you know a white femme designated Retrobeam?" She found herself asking, and shattered the silence.

Mirage nodded, "Yes."

The femme froze for a moment, the words seemed to be caught in her throat, "Um...how is she?"

Mirage seemed to understand what she meant. Carefully, his servo reached in between the energon bars glowing brightly in the dark. Just being around the heat had charred his paint, but he didn't pay it any mind as he rested his servo on her shoulder plating in a comforting matter. Paradox's optics dropped to the floor as a ripple of emotions overwhelmed her.

She didn't realize how much she missed being with the Autobots until now.

"She is fine." He said gently, "Are you alright?"

She nodded, but still didn't stop staring at the ground. "Bluestreak too?" She always feared for his safety. He was young like her, and just like her had to suffer through a traumatic event as well. He talked, because it was his way of coping. He could stand the silence about as much as Paradox could. The blue Autobot nodded again, and she felt the relief slowly seep into her systems and ebbing away the panic.

She suddenly tensed as her doorwings picked up signatures approaching. Mirage sensed it too, and brought his arm back through the energon bars.

"I'm afraid time is short," Mirage muttered, "You need to go."

She couldn't help the disappointment that swirled in her chassis, as the pedesteps came closer.

"Don't worry Paradox, it won't be long until we send someone to check up on you." Mirage said, backing away from the cell.

"No!" She found herself hissing quietly, and she shook her helm, "Tell Jazz and Optimus that I said _abso-fragging-lutely_ not!"

He was taken aback, and raised an optic ridge in bewilderment, "I don't understand what you mean-"

"No means _no_. I will not have any of you risking your lives to make sure I'm okay. I'm not a sparkling. I know the consequences would be when I took on this mission, and I'm not afriad of them. I'm an _Autobot_ , for Primus' sakes."

Mirage shushed her quietly, "It's not up to you to decide. This is standard during a long-term espionage. Now, quick, you need to escape."

"Please tell Retrobeam and Bluestreak I'm okay," The violet femme said quickly as Mirage completely vanished before her optics, but his spark signature was still reading loud and clear, "And tell Jazz that I was _serious_ about this. No one comes over to check anymore."

His signature disappeared.

"I'm not kidding. I swear to Primus." She hissed again.

"Hey!" A voice called out, and she snapped into action.

She scaled up the walls quickly, back over to the open vent and climbed inside.

* * *

The next day was not a pleasant day to be a Decepticon.

Mirage had escaped his cell sometime during the Lunar Cycle, and even though Paradox was relieved, she couldn't help but pity the guards that were in charge of detaining him. According to Knock Out, this had set off Megatron's perilous temper, and the higher ups were doing everything in their power to avoid him. And according to the two symbiotes sitting next to her, Starscream had took a beating this morning because of it. They happily retold the story of how it didn't take long for the Second in Command to push his button, and caused him to snap, and she grimaced.

"It was fraggin' hilarious." Frenzy finished, taking a swig of his energon.

"Moral of the story, don't piss of an already pissed of gladiator." Rumble added.

"That's...actually pretty terrifying." She said.

"Eh," Frenzy shrugged, "That cone-head deserved it."

"Hey, how come you don't go to the lounge?" Rumble asked, fixing his crimson optics on the larger femme beside him. He gestured widely to her private qauters, "You're either in here or at the med bay. Why is that?"

Paradox rolled her optics, "Because I don't feel like being harassed by fellow soldiers every time I try to refuel."

"You could always take us with you." Frenzy suggested.

She snorted, "I don't think they would find you intimidating."

"Yeah, but they know not to mess with us. They're terrified of what Soundwave might do to them." Rumble pointed out, and Frenzy nodded in agreement.

A cold shiver ran down her spinal strut at the thought of Soundwave. The way his long, lethal fingers swept over her frame and broken her plating, his cold, detached stare not leaving her for an astrosecond. Suddenly, the doors slid open and Paradox could only think of one mech who could easily disarm her security system.

 _Speak of the_ _devil_ **,** _and he should appear._

Paradox didn't look at him, she kept her optics trained to the floor as he moved inside the room, his long legs quickly eating up the distance.

"Yeah, yeah, we're comin'." Frenzy mumbled, hopping down from the violet femme's berth.

"Not here for symbiotes." He rumbled cryptically.

His tone made her helm snap up. Frenzy and Rumble appeared to be as confused as she was.

"So..." Frenzy drawled, looking between his master and the violet femme, "You're here for Paradox?"

He nodded sharply.

"Why?"

"None of your concern." Soundwave replied, still in that stern, cryptic tone as his long arm reached out and grabbed Paradox by hers.

She was so surprised by the action that she didn't fight back as he pulled her to her pedes. Her arm was released, and Soundwave nudged her to walk out of the room. Her pedes had made it past the hatch when it dawned in on her, and she stopped walking, turning on her pedes to face the silent mech.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Silence. Resume walking."

"Why?" She asked, defiance burning in her optics, but she turned and continued walking. Just at an extremely slower pace.

"At Lord Megatron's request."

She couldn't keep the shock and horror out of her voice, "He wants to see _me_? For what?"

"Interrogation."

That left a cold feeling of dread churning in her tanks. Both were silent as they continued down the long corridor, her spark racing at a frightening alarm as she walked to walk could potentially be her doom.

* * *

 **Cliffhanger again!**


	11. Interrogation

**One review away from 60! :)**

 **AquaJinx: Who knows? DUN DUN DUNNN XD**

 **The Silvernote: This made me laugh so hard for some reason. Maybe! Maybe not!**

 **WhiteDiamondNinja8484: Hmmm maybe. Paradox doesn't really fight much on battlefield because she's on the special Ops team. I think that Ravage theory's pretty interesting though.**

 **ZenaZie: Why thank you. Hmmm maybe he is.**

 **Seeker3: Lol, here it is!**

 **BarricadesDemons216: Maybe. And thank you, I totally agree. I'm glad you like it!**

 **Okay, I read over my responses and sorry for the reuse of the word "maybe". I tried to go for indifference to not to give anything away...or MAYBE I am.**

 **I'm sorry.**

* * *

Eleven: Interrogation

Soundwave silently commanded the doors to the command center to open, and Paradox tried to keep the trepidation out of her frame as she walked through the doors. She had never been to the command center before, entrance was only permitted for commanding officers and the Lord Protecter himself. Long consoles stretched across half the room, projecting giant holoscreens that recorded the halls, the lounge, the training center, and the barracks.

Then, her ruby optics slid to Megatron. He looked just like the first time she saw him; _enormous._ But there was a dangerous edge that was practically coming off of him in waves. His crimson optics were smoldering with barely contained fury as he paced back and forth in front of his large throne, his thundering pedesteps shaking the violet femme to her core.

Yet she kept her exterior calm and composed as Soundwave brought her to a line of mechs, who probably looked just as frightened as she felt. All of their nervous red gazes flickered to her, before darting back to the hulking silver mech. After Soundwave lined her up, he walked over to stand on the other side of Megatron's throne. The Lord Protector didn't stop his pacing, and the foreboding sense of dread only churned harder in her tanks.

 _Well,_ She thought grimly, _what was he waiting for?_

She had her answer an astrosecond later. Shockwave's equally hulking form stepped through the doors, and for some reason, that made the panic rise even faster. He joined Soundwave on the other side of the throne, and Megatron slowed to a stop. His malicious gaze swept over the seven soldiers, before he spoke.

"As you know, our prisoner has escaped," Megatron rumbled in a noxious tone, "One moment he was there, and then he vanished. And from our cameras, all of you had entered the brig before the prisoner escaped. One of you _aided_ his escape."

Her spark thrummed so loudly that it felt like it would burst out of her spark chamber. She had to remind herself to keep calm, since there were six others in the room, not all of the suspicion was on her, and maybe she could get out of this alive. But looking a certain way could show an indication. She kept her door wings perfectly straight against her spinal strut, and concentrated on keeping her emotions at bay so that her wings wouldn't twitch. She also kept her servos firmly at her side, and a neutral look on her face-plates.

Maybe...if she looked like she wasn't interested then they wouldn't bother. Or maybe, her attempt at indifference would give her away. She wasn't sure how to look exactly, but kept herself still as Megatron's optics swept over them again.

It was so silent, that she could hear the nervous cycling of systems beside her.

"Now the question is," He rumbled, walking forward slowly, " _Who_ is it?"

She bit her lip-plates.

The tension in the silence was so thick that she could feel it swelling in her chassis. Briefly, she glanced at Soundwave, who stood silently like a dark blue then fixed her gaze back on Megatron, who was inspecting each of them. The unadulterated fury still rolled off of him in waves, but he managed to calm himself since this morning. His long, sharp claws rubbed the edge of his face-plates thoughtfully, and for a terrifying second, she saw those claws plunging into her chassis, and ripping out her spark in a matter of seconds. She quickly blinked the dark thought away, and stood even straighter.

She could do this.

She _had_ to do this.

Optimus and Jazz wouldn't have given her this mission, if they didn't think she could handle it.

"No one knows?" Megatron asked, raising a thing optic ridge, "Then I'll think I'll just tear apart your processors to find out."

Paradox balked. Tiny gasps of horror came out of the mechs beside her, their optics all wide with terror. Her confidence began to slip. No, they wouldn't find her helping Mirage escape, but they would sure find out about her being a spy. She could _not_ let that happen.

But what else could she do?

Never in her life had she felt so helpless as she did now, and she hated it. Her servos clenched into tight fists for a moment, before she dropped them. She had to keep calm.

"Soundwave," Megatron rumbled, turning to bring the attention on the silent blue mech.

Her confidence slipped even faster. If there was one thing Soundwave was known for it was his eerie, and sinister way of gathering information. According to the Autobots, Soundwave used his so called telepathic powers to brutally invade someone's mind. He would feel your processor with your worst, agonizing nightmares, all the while plucking out information. They say that bots begged and pleaded to be offlined, anything to escape the misery. They say to be interrogated by Soundwave was a fate worse than death.

Even though there was a certain ominous edge to Soundwave, the violet femme wasn't so sure about his telepathic abilities. But now, as the blue mech slowly approached them, she suddenly wondered if all those horrible stories were real, and the rumors were true. Soundwave went up to the first mech in line, and the femme sworn she could hear the tiny _clanks_ from the way his frame shook. Soundwave was a few good helms taller than the dark mech, and loomed over him, so she could understand his terror.

"Now, we shall find out the truth." Megatron drawled, his optics gleaming with malevolent delight. He nodded at the communications officer, and Soundwave leaned in so there was only a breath of air away from him.

There was complete silence as all optics were glued on them. Paradox watched the dark mech's face, searching for any signs of pain or horror. The mech was silent, but his optics were reduced to a faded red. An uncomfortable noise left his mouth, before his optics brightened back to a cherry red. Soundwave stepped away, and shook his helm. Megatron made an irritated noise, before waving him off.

"You're dismissed. Next!"

Then went the next mech, and the next mech, until it was dwindling down to two left before her. Her spark was all but slamming into her spark chamber, yet she kept her cool. Her servos kept clenching and unclenching, as her processors raced across the millions of ways Megatron would torture her when they found out the truth. She was suddenly relieved that she told Mirage to tell Retrobeam and Bluestreak that she was okay, because she was sure she wasn't going to come back to them. Especially after the next mech left, leaving only one in front of her.

He was a tall, lanky mech with pale red optics. And he looked completely calm, which Paradox deeply envied. Soundwave stepped up to him, and Paradox started mentally saying her goodbyes.

 _To Retrobeam_ , She thought, _My best friend, who I love dearly. You were always there for me, through the good and the bad. You always seemed to know exactly how I feel, before I could identify it, and you always had the right things to say to me when I needed it. You are wise, funny, and the best friend a femme like me could ever ask for. I know you'll hate me for leaving you like this, but I'm sorry. And tell Bluestreak that I will miss him as well, and that he shouldn't worry about me because I'll be in a better place. Most of all, do not take my loss as a devastation and disaster. But a victory, and a reminder of how strong and courageous the Autobots truly are. I do hope that you win the war, and one day restore peace to Cybertron. And I take comfort in the fact that I contributed to that peace._

Soundwave stepped away from the lanky mech, and Paradox cycled a long, resigned breath, and closed her optics. Death wasn't an unfamiliar concept for her, and she wasn't afraid of it. She would just hope that her friends wouldn't take it too hard. She hoped that Retrobeam would heal from this, and not lose hope. She also hoped that it would be quick, and Megatron would be so furious that he wouldn't even have time for torture and just kill her right where she stood. She accepted her fate, and she was ready for it.

She opened her optics again, just to see Soundwave turn to Megatron and give a nod.

Paradox blinked. _Wait a minute..._

 _...A nod?_

"Mech known as Hyperblade had disabled energon bars and allowed for Autobot prisoner to escape." Soundwave rumbled.

Paradox just...blinked again. Her processors were utterly blown.

"And why, Hyperblade, would you do that?" Megatron growled, his fury rising again. He stalked over to the lanky mech, who still looked completely calm.

"We had a deal, sir." The mech replied, loud and without a tremor of fear.

Paradox looked over the mech, and wondered if she wasn't the only spy aboard the Nemesis. She certainly didn't recognize him.

"And what was the deal?" Megatron snarled, only a few inches away from him.

"In exchange for getting him on to the Nemesis, he'd pay me wealthily." The mech said coolly.

"You are a traitor to the Decepticon cause," Megatron roared, "And now, you _will_ be executed!" The large, purple cannon sitting on his right arm suddenly powered on in a high pitched whirr. The mech never lost his placid composure, even as the hot, purple swirl gleamed in his face, or as Megatron shot from point blank range and his frame crumpled to the ground.

Paradox gasped, and looked away. A sick feeling churned in her stomach, and she felt the bile bubbling up the back of her throat. The smell of burned protoform and the stench of plasma wafted through her olfactory sensor, and her spark squeezed hard in her chassis. Never had she witnessed a murder in person before, and it was a terrifying sight.

"Clean up this _filth_." Megatron spat, glaring at two guards in the corner of the room, but Paradox couldn't worry about them as those murderous, crimson optics were suddenly on her.

"Count yourself lucky, little femme," Megatron rumbled lowly with dark amusement, "You're dismissed."

She didn't feel happy or relieved. She didn't feel anything, everything felt numb as she walked out of the command center and back into the main corridors. The gruesome scene kept playing over and over in her helm, no matter how many times she tried to push it out. And when she reached her private quarters, she stared at her empty berth.

A small tear ran down her face-plate and plopped on to the berth. Then another, and another, before she found herself sobbing. Her spark ached in pain as she sobbed for how cruel the Decepticons were, and how close she was to almost being discovered. She sobbed for the young mech, who wouldn't lose his nerve, even until he met his violent end. She sobbed because it seemed the only way to pour out of all of the pent up emotions. The fear, the horror, the sadness, and the anger because she couldn't do anything to stop it.

It all had happen so fast.

Her servo slowly reached into her subspace, and pulled out her insignia. Through her tears, she stared at the proud gleaming red sign, and clutched on to it like a lifeline.

* * *

 **Sorry, it's a little shorter. Hoped you like, please review!**


	12. Avoidance

**Sorry I didn't update last week I was sick. Also yay, we're past sixty.**

 **Starlight. Moonlight. Sunshine: haha, wow thanks!**

 **The Silvernote: Yeah, don't worry she won't. She was alone at the time.**

 **PenArt: Glad to know, lol thanks!**

 **Char: Wow thank you, I'm so glad you like it so far! And the answer to your PS: pretty soon ;)**

 **Seeker3: Awww. Thanks!**

 **I know the last chapter was a little depressing, so I'll lighten this one up with a Paradox/Soundwave moment! I'm sure you guys would like that.**

* * *

Twelve: Avoidance

The next morning, the violet femme had onlined later than normal, but she really couldn't blame herself. She had been up practically half-way through the lunar cycle, and she was still feeling the grogginess of recharge, but managed to stumble through it as she went to go get her energon. She realized, distressfully, that she would have to deal with the more obnoxious Decepticons since she got up late. It wasn't a good start for her day.

Luckily, no one approached her while she was standing in line to fill up her cubes. There was a lot of animated chatter, and some laughter. The whole warship seemed to be in a better mood since the traitor had been found, which meant that Megatron would be less likely murderous. But that didn't bring Paradox any sort of jy or relief. She felt numb to the whole thing, and tried not to think about it much.

But the lively chatter suddenly fell silent, and she made the mistake of looking up to see why. Soundwave was standing, on the other side of the lounge. He must have just entered, since all the red gazes slowly made their way to him, before looking away in fear. But Soundwave didn't even seem to be bothered by them, since his crimson gaze was narrowed on her.

Paradox quickly looked away too, and hoped that the line would speed up. The chatter returned, but it was in a hushed tone, as some of the soldiers threw glances mixed between wariness and fear at the silent Communications Officer. She felt an uncomfortable sensation wash through her wires, and her doorwings twitched. She could sense that he wasn't near the threshold anymore, but she wouldn't let her sensors wander. Despite her processors telling her to stay as far away from him as possible, her spark fluttered when she sensed his signature. She bit down hard on her lip-plates as the frustration swelled inside her.

She didn't want to think about him.

She wanted to hurry up to she could go find Nightblade.

But he was coming closer, and the line wasn't moving. With a frustrated huff, Paradox stepped out of line and made her way to the exit. She would just come back for it later during the day. She had turned down a few corridors, making her way towards the Med Bay when she had to stop herself before she crashed into a wall of dark blue armor. The mech that had invaded her thoughts was now standing in front of her. His visored face plates were tilted down to stare at her.

Paradox resisted the urge to growl, and went to walk around him, but she flinched when his servo clasped around her arm. She tried to shake off his grip, but it was like a vice, and it reminded her of recent unpleasant events. The violet femme was suddenly painfully aware of the fact that no one else was in the hall, and she was all alone with him.

She tugged again, this time more frantically, but Soundwave didn't budge. Instead, with one simple jerk, he had spun her back in front of him. They were standing nearly chassis to chassis, and as much as Paradox hated it, her spark thrummed quicker in her chassis. She didn't like being so close to him, especially after what happened last time.

Involuntarily, her pedes had backed up until she was pressed against the wall, trying to put space in between them. In retrospect, she should've known that was a bad move, because Soundwave had simply took two steps to box her in again. Paradox took a deep breath to calm down her panic, before glaring right up at him.

"What do you want, sir?" She asked, her voice emotionless and dull.

Soundwave hadn't said anything, which was expected. He didn't do anything...except lean in closer, staring at her as if he was examining a foreign object. Paradox felt her armor tighten as the space evaporated, but she didn't break her gaze. If he was trying to go for intimidation, it wasn't going to work.

Not this time.

Paradox cleared her vocalizer, "I have to report to the Med Bay."

But he didn't do anything, nor did he move. The violet femme's patience had finally dwindled, and she exploded on him.

"What more do you want from me? Haven't you've already put me through enough?!" She snapped, a stark contrast to her previous dull voice. Her optics gleamed with determination, and her claws curled into tight fists. "Why can't you just leave me _alone_?!"

That seemed to spark a reaction for him.

One of his servo's rose, and she winced, preparing herself for the blow.

But it never came.

Instead she felt long, dexterous digits spread out across one side of her face plates. She stared with wide optics up at him, as his digits shifted so that two of them were on her temple, before she felt a heavy, eerie sensation in her helm. Her vision had blurred at the edges, and suddenly, she wasn't pinned in the hall anymore. She was standing, watching in horror as Megatron growled and powered on his cannon.

Her optics widened, and her lip-plates formed the words _'No!'_ but they never left her.

She felt her spark stop as the cannon gave a thunderous bang, and the mech had crumpled to the ground. The guilt and anguish had crashed into her like a tidal wave, and she found herself collapsing to her knees. One moment, her spark felt like it was going to explode from all of the emotions surging inside her, and the next, she felt _nothing_.

It was as if it all disappeared.

The scene replayed again, and when it did, there was no tidal wave of pain. There was no reaction at all, and the more she thought about it, the harder it was for her to grasp it. Suddenly, everything became blurry. The memory kept replaying, but every time it did, it felt off. It was harder to grasp, and the more it replayed, the less she remembered.

She wasn't even sure if Megatron actually had shot the mech.

And suddenly, she couldn't remember the mech's appearance. Or the conversation he had with Megatron. The blurriness had melted, and she blinked before her optics refocused on Soundwave. He was still standing very close, but he no longer pinned her. His servo was still on her helm.

She blinked again, "What...did you do to me? I...I can't remember."

"Femme was interrogated," He had finally spoke, "Lord Megatron found the traitor. Femme was dismissed."

The violet femme frowned. She was sure there was more to the story than Soundwave was telling, but she couldn't remember. No matter how hard she tried, every thing from her leaving her quarters to be interrogated and going into the lounge was a messy blur.

"Are you sure-"

"Affirmative." Soundwave answered, rather quickly.

Paradox's optics narrowed warily. She was sure he was hiding something, but all thoughts of questioning him was erased when his digits brushed against her cheek. It was so soft that it was barely a touch, but she could feel it, and her spark responded with a happy thrum. Heat rushed to her face-plates, but she was too dazed to be embarrassed. Instead, she stared at the crimson red glowing from his visor, and wondered what his face-plates looked like. She also wondered why he wore a visor.

Was it because he was embarrassed of his appearance? Or was he just really so secretive that he didn't want bots to know his true identity?

Soundwave was a very strange enigma.

For a split second, she thought about taking off his visor. Just to put the mystery to rest and finally see what he had been hiding, but then she realized she valued her life and decided against it.

Soundwave's digits had ghosted over her face-plates again, before he finally pulled away. Paradox finally felt like she could catch her breath, and relief seeped into her. He didn't leave though, he had just watched her. Finally, when she felt like her breathing was back to normal, she looked up at him and asked.

"Why the visor?"

Soundwave tilted his helm. She wasn't sure if he was confused or surprised. It was always hard to tell with him.

"I've never seen you without it," She went on, "Even when you're in the lounge...do you ever take it off?"

Soundwave gave the tiniest of a shake, before he walked away.

The violet femme stared after him, until he rounded a corner and disappeared. It annoyed her that he only liked to talk whenever he deemed fit, and wondered how he could have conversations with anyone. But then she was pretty sure Soundwave didn't have a lot of conversations with mechs to begin with. A ping in her helm notified her that it was time for her patrol round, and she sighed.

"So much for trying to avoid him." She muttered.

* * *

 **Sorry, this one's kinda short! Sorry for any mistakes I might have missed. It's getting late.**


	13. A Piece of the Past

**Wow, okay I'm the _worst_ at updating. So I've decided to switch it from Wednesday to Thursday because I feel like it gives me more time to plan and write it out. It just feels like I'm always rushing on Wednesday, and then there are these other problems that prevent me from updating sometimes as well. Hope you guys don't mind it too much, I just feel like this would be more convenient!**

 **The Silvernote: More specifically, _Soundwave_ is keeping something.**

 **PenArt: Actually no, because Soundwave didn't go that far into her memories. He was only searching for that specific one.**

 **WhiteDiamondNinja8484: Yeah, it's the second one. Haha, he sure is!**

 **Guest: I will, here it is!**

 **Remember that comment Mirage made about hearing Nightblade's name before? Well, that ties into this chapter.**

* * *

Thirteen: A Piece of the Past

After the Paradox's patrol round had finished, she had transformed on the ramp, stretching her doorwings. She grumbled to herself when they had gotten stuck again, and had to fix them. Sometimes, she really hated being a Praxian. Her appendages may be a good tool for spying, and convenient for advanced sensors, but the numerous amount of times she had to reset them were starting to drive her crazy. She vaguely wondered if Seekers had this same problem as she picked up her cubes from the lounge, and made her way to the Med Bay.

Once she arrived, she found the blue medic at her normal post near the back of the Med Bay.

"Hey Nightblade," She smiled as she greeted her, "I got you a cube."

The blue medic's optics seemed to light up with relief, "Oh thank Primus!" The medic exclaimed, wrapping her arms around a slightly startled Paradox.

The violet femme quirked an optic ridge, "I mean it's not like they're premium grade or anything-"

"No," Nightblade interrupted, shaking her helm with a small, breathless chuckle, "I don't mean the cube, I mean _you_. I heard what happened with the prisoner, and you were called for interrogation. I'm just glad you're safe, are you okay?"

It was still hard to think about what exactly happened. Every time she tried, it became a blurry mess that only really served to confuse her. So instead, she gave the answer Soundwave had told her, "Yeah, I'm fine. I was interrogated, but Lord Megatron found the traitor, so I was dismissed."

Nightblade looked confused for a moment, as she slowly pulled out of her embrace. "That...was all?" She asked, seeming way about something.

Paradox nodded, "Yes. At least, I think that's all that happened."

"What do you mean you _think_?"

"I don't remember much from it. But that's what I was told." The femme replied, but the more she tried to explain it, the less convinced she sound.

"Hmm." Nightblade murmured, still in that wary, guarded tone. She took the cube from Paradox's servo and placed it on the counter next to her medical tools.

The violet femme wondered what had caused the medic's mood to shift, but she didn't voice it. The sudden ache that pulsed from her spinal strut had distracted her, and her lip-plates parted with a soft gasp.

Nightblade turned around, a look of concern crossed her features. "What's wrong?"

"My doorwings," She grunted, trying to flex them, but another surge of pain was the only response. She let out a string of curses.

"Stop doing that, you'll only make it worse." The blue medic chastised, leading her over to the medberth, "Here, sit down. Let me take a look at it."

"It does this all the time." Paradox tried to explain, but Nightblade wasn't listening.

She was studying the armor around her doorwings intently, touching it with a careful medic's touch as she examined them. After a few more kliks of gentle prodding, Nightblade leaned away.

"Your doorwings aren't symmetrical, and the armor you have on was made for symmetrical ones. How could I have not noticed this before?" The medic said, and then sighed, "Well, there are two ways to fix this. You can either line up your left wing so that they are equal, which will take surgery and leave you in the Med Bay for a few cycles, or you can get new armor for your spinal strut that matches the way your wings are."

Paradox frowned, "Well, the second option sounds less painful."

Nightblade nodded, "It is, but it will take a while for the armor to come in, since it will needed to be made with specific adjustments. I estimate that you will have to stay in this armor for a few cycles."

The violet femme sighed, "Either way, I'll be waiting, huh?"

Nightblade smirked, "Patience is a good virtue."

Paradox rolled her ruby optics, "Whatever you say."

The blue medic chuckled softly, walking back over to her counter to look for something. A thought had came to mind, but Paradox wasn't sure how to express it. She didn't want to seem so nosy, but she also couldn't help but be curious. It was in her nature.

"Nightblade, I have a question."

"Oh Primus," The medic muttered sarcastically, "You and curiosity are a dangerous combination."

The violet femme found herself flushing.

"Ask away." She said a moment later.

"I was just wondering where you were from originally. I know it's not Kaon."

Nightblade stiffened, something she did often now. This whole mystery behind Nightblade was killing her, she was so curious. And she wanted to help, because she believed the medic deserved it. No matter how happy she tried to act, Paradox knew she wasn't happy here. A long silence passed between them, and after a while, Paradox was sure she wasn't going to answer and was about to apologize for bringing it up when Nightblade let out a long sigh.

"Originally, I am from Iacon."

This surprised Paradox, but she was careful to not show it. How could a bot like her end up with the Decepticons, when Iacon was a dominant Autobot state? It didn't make any sense.

"Before the war broke out, and the Council still reigned over Cybertron. My Sire was a part of that council, and an Elite member of Iacon society. And of course, because we were Elite, we lived in the Towers." Nightblade went on slowly.

Paradox balked, her optics widened with surprise. Nightblade was an _Elite?_ A slow surge of jealousy went through her at the thought, but she forced herself to ignore it. It didn't matter anymore, because the Towers were no more, and with that the Elite status. But...she still couldn't help but be shocked.

"I'm sure you're aware of the rumors about the Elites, being the richest yet stuck-up and ruthless Cybertronians. And I wouldn't blame you if you felt that way, because to a degree, those rumors were right. Some of those mechs in the Towers were monsters, I've witnessed it firsthand, but...not my Sire. He was a kind, generous mech that was passionate about the citizens in Iacon. He wanted to best for everyone, and there wasn't a selfish wire in his frame." Nightblade sighed, "I never really knew my Carrier, because she had offlined giving birth to me. So, naturally, I was close to my Sire. I adored him, and he was the reason that I went into the medical institution, because I wanted to help bots just like he did."

"Something happened to him." Paradox said, suddenly feeling guilty for bringing it up. It was the only reason why the blue medic spoke with such a wistful, longing tone.

Nightblade's pink optics dimmed slightly, "Well...yes. War happened, and after the Decepticons had taken over Kaon, they attacked Iacon. They killed all of the Council members one by one, including my Sire." She looked away, "They invaded the Towers. He had tried to hide me when we found out, but I was young and scared...I was afraid and I didn't want to leave him. I had walked in, just as they had murdered him. And then, they kidnapped me. They put me into slavery, along with a lot of other children from the Towers. For a Stellar Cycle, I was at the hands of the Decepticons. Enduring their abuse, because my Sire was in the Council and I was in the Towers. Until the Lord Protector took a liking to me." The blue medic seemed to shiver at that, "I...I was his personal slave then. But as the war progressed and the Autobots were formed, a lot of his soldiers were getting injured. I took personal delight out of it, but Knock Out couldn't do it all on his own. He knew about my talents as a medic, and demanded that I worked with him."

Nightblade stepped away from the counter, her arms were wrapped around her small, shaky frame. "That is how I ended up being their medic. I'm guessing that answers a lot of questions you had, huh?"

Paradox felt sick. She had a feeling something was keeping her here, but she didn't think it would be something like this. She was a slave here, forced to use her talents and help people that had killed her Sire.

Paradox felt a surge of rage so strong that she felt the energon in her wires boil. The Decepticons...they _ruined_ her life. They took her away from the only person she had. Her spark felt like it was seize up with the amount of anger and grief she had for Nightblade.

"I probably shouldn't have told you that," Nightblade said quickly, a small tear had rolled down her cheek, and she wiped it away with her servo.

Paradox was at a loss for words. So many emotions were consuming her, but she pushed them away so she could stand up and wrap her arms around Nightblade.

"I'm so sorry." Paradox murmured.

"I don't want to overbear you with my grief-"

"No," The violet femme said sharply, "You deserve to have a moment to grieve. None of this was your fault."

The medic sighed, "I know. It just...it still hurts. There's this constant ache in my spark, since the Creator's bond is gone. I just feel so alone sometimes."

"You're not alone." Paradox said, keeping her voice firm, "I'll always be here for you."

And she was going to be. She swore to Primus, that she was going to find a way to get her out of this mess.

She owed it to her.

* * *

 **Well, I hoped that cleared up Nightbalde's past. Thanks for reading, I'd love to hear your reviews!**


	14. Envy

**The Silvernote: You're welcome, and you'll just have to stick around to found out. Thanks :)**

 **BarricadesDemon216: I know, I don't want to make you depressed or anything. I just wanted to portray a view on how war can really affect someone, i.e Nightblade. And yes, Paradox will try to do whatever she can to get her out of this mess.**

 **Tpfloverrr . aka. char: Thanks. Sorry for the weird the spacing on your username. It kept deleting like half of it I don't know why tbh.**

 **WhiteDiamondNinja8484: Yeah, I know. Oh yeah, Soundwave definitely wiped her memories to make her forget...but the question is, why? Lol.**

 **Thank you guys so much for the reviews! They always make my day better! And here's some Frenzy and Rumble, since they haven't been in a few chapters!**

* * *

Fourteen: Envy

Late that cycle, Paradox knew she had to report to Jazz. She didn't feel much like talking, and just compiled data from her memory into a report, with a quick greeting, and sent it off to him. Jazz gave a questioning ping, but the violet femme couldn't bother. She was exhausted, but she didn't regret staying with Nightblade. She needed somebot with her, to be there and give her a shoulder-plate to cry on. Primus knows how many times Retrobeam was the shoulder-plate for her.

She was only half-surprised when she found two grinning symbiotes in her quarters.

"Para!" They both greeted her enthusiastically.

"Hey you two," She said, trying to clear the exhaustion out of her voice. She smiled at Frenzy, who was grinning happily from his spot on the berth, his pedes swinging from beneath him. "What are you two doing here so late?"

Rumble rolled his optics, "Spying got boring."

Paradox raised an optic ridge, "Isn't that your jobs?"

"Yeah, but Rumble and I-"

"Stop lying, glitch-"

"Okay, _Rumble_ , had the idea to make a temporary connection, that'll allow us to stream the security footage without actually having to be at the console."

"That's...actually, pretty smart." The violet femme replied, slightly shocked.

Frenzy shot her a look, "What? You tryna say we aren't smart?"

Paradox smirked, "Your words, not mine."

Frenzy huffed indignantly, and crossed his servos, "I'll let you get away with that...only cuz you're pretty."

"Right." The femme checked her internal chronometer, "It's getting pretty late. Soundwave might be looking for you."

Rumble scoffed, "If he was worried, he'd say something through the bond."

"Actually, he's quite busy at the moment." Frenzy added. And Paradox wouldn't have thought much out of his comment, if the symbiote hadn't flashed her a mischievous grin.

"What do you mean by that?" The words spilled past her lip-plates before she could really stop them.

Frenzy glanced at Rumble, and they both smirked.

"He's talkin' ta a femme."

 _What?_ The thought exploded inside her helm. A strange, heavy sensation wrapped around her spark, and it felt like it was trying to squeeze her until it popped. A warm heat trickled from her chassis and into the rest of her frame, and flooded through her circuits. She had no idea why she was so bothered by this idea. Not only was she surprised that Soundwave was having a conversation, but it was a _femme._

A femme that wasn't her.

"What are they saying?" She asked, and then immediately regretted it. And the surprised looks on the symbiotes face-plates, brought a wave of humiliation and sheepishness rolling through her. "N-Not that I care or anything." She added quickly, although it didn't seem like it mattered.

Their processors were made up.

"Paradox, are you _jealous_?" Frenzy gasped.

Heat rushed to her cheeks, "N-No! Why would I be?"

"You're blushing." Rumble pointed out.

The violet femme shook her helm in exasperation, "That's because I was just surprised."

"What? That Soundwave was talking to another femme?" Frenzy teased.

Paradox glared at him. "What are they saying?"

"You know what," Frenzy said, stretching his short servos up in the air with a faux yawn, "You're right, it _is_ getting pretty late. I'm kinda tired, you Rumble?"

Rumble nodded, a devious grin splitting his face. "I am actually."

"You little-" Paradox's insult was cut off by Rumble's equally dramatic yawn, and Frenzy hopped off her berth.

"See you tomorrow, Para!" They both called at the same time.

Frenzy had turned around at the last moment, and grinned, "Sweet dreams."

They door closed behind them. The violet femme was at a loss for words. Frustration and irritation bubbled up inside her from the symbiote's refusal to tell her. But... _why_ did she care so much? As far as she knew, Soundwave was a cold, detached Decepticon with a looming frame and an inscrutable mask. He was terrifying, he was intimidating...yet he had some moments, where that cold wall seemed to melt.

 _No,_ She thought harshly, _He's a Decepticon. He partook in destroying Nightblade's life. He deserves no admiration._

But then her processor had wandered, back to that sparring match late in the cycle. She remembered the burning rush of adrenaline coursing through her wires, and the excitement of matching the silent blue mech with blow to blow. And then it wandered to the dark corridor, where his digits had ghosted over her face-plates, trailing small tingles of pleasure everywhere it touched.

"No." She said, this time aloud. And it _would_ have been convincing, if her voice didn't stumble a little. "I don't care about him."

But why did it burn so much to think about him talking to another femme? And then, an even more disturbing thought formed inside her processor.

 _Was he attracted to that femme?_

 _"Slaggit!"_ She groaned, grabbing the sides of her helm. She refused to let the thought wander any further.

She hated him and that was that.

There. _Simple._

"Simple..." She muttered, laying down on her berth. It took her awhile to go into recharge.

* * *

The next cycle she had onlined slightly later again, which put her into a mood.

 _This is all his fragging fault._ She thought grumpily, as she drank her energon and left for her patrol round. She was half-way down the corridor that led towards the deck, when she froze at the sound of voices. Voices that she had heard _before_.

She tracked the voice to a hallway over, and cautiously peered around. Her ruby optics widened when she saw the very familiar form of a femme with several legs sprouting off of her frame. Her familiar pink optics that were cold and calculating, unlike Nightblade's warm and friendly ones. Right next to her was the tall blue mech with purple optics, the one who was experimenting with all of those dangerous drugs. Seeing the precarious duo together on the Warship had an eerie shiver roll down her spinal strut, and she was immediately wary. They were being accompanied by the Decepticon Breakdown.

"So what's got Megsy in a mood, now?" Airachnid asked casually, but her voice was cold with an underlying threat of wickedness. She could safely say that she didn't miss that voice.

"Airachnid," The blue mech grumbled, his voice equally as perilous, "Mute it."

The spider-looking femme scoffed, "What? I was just wondering?"

"Stop wondering. You have no place here."

"Well, until _now_." Airachnid purred, and their voices faded as they walked further away.

Until now? Paraodx briefly wondered what she could have meant by that, and then ventured on her way to patrol. There was something going on between Megatron and those two, and if those two were involved, she was sure she wasn't going to like it.

* * *

After the femme had finished her patrol rounds, she had transformed up the ramp and entered the Nemesis' halls. She was currently thinking of a way she could keep tabs on Megatron, without actually having to be near him. She could put up cameras like she did in Shockwave's creepy lab, but even being able to do that was a stretch. She wasn't even sure where all this sinister business was taking place in either. There were many possibilities; Knock Out's Med Bay, Shockwave's Lab, the Command Center, or even his personal quarters...which was so highly secured that she wouldn't stand a chance.

"Ah, my little Praxian." A voice startled her, and she nearly jumped.

Her battle protocols onlined within astroseconds, and she spun around, with a blade and pushed the owner of the voice up against the wall. Her blade pressed tightly against their neck-cables. It was the creepy blue mech that accompanied Airachnid, but she didn't let her surprise falter her, she kept the blade where it was.

The mech's purple optics gleamed in a way that made her tanks roll. "You're a lethal little one, aren't you?"

Paradox grimaced, not wanting to remove the blade, but he wasn't being hostile. "You surprised me."

"My apologies," His optics glanced down at her frame, before looking up at her again, "I see you've underwent some...changes since we last met."

"I did." She pretended to sound indifferent, "Sorry for the attack. Good orn."

"Oh, don't be like that little Praxian." He murmured, pushing himself from off the wall. He followed her, which made her even more uneasy.

"My name is Paradox." She said stiffly.

"So she does have a designation," He nodded, folding his servos behind his back, "I like it."

She didn't respond, and hoped that he got the message and would leave her alone. Unfortunately, the mech did not.

"So how's it going, anyway? I don't know how you all do it. Being confined on such a stuffy place like this." The blue mech went on, glancing at her.

"Fine." She answered reluctantly.

"Made any allies?"

At that, she paused and looked at him. Her optics narrowed, "Why would I want allies?"

The blue mech grinned, raising his servos in surrender, "I was just wondering if you've made any friends. I'm not accusing you of anything...unless, there's something you're hiding."

She didn't do anything but blink.

The blue mech chuckled, it was a deep chuckle that echoed off the empty corridor and sent another ice-cold tremor down her spinal strut. Paradox felt the internal panic rise, but she kept it at bay. She wanted to get away from this mech as far as possible.

"I'm kidding." He said after the chuckles had died down.

Paradox flashed a strained smile, and resumed her walking.

"What ever happened to your chevron?" He asked, and she flinched not-so-subtly.

"I never had one." She answered curtly, really hoping he would get the message. He was either blissfully unaware, or completely aware and did it to get under her plating.

"Hmm," The blue mech hummed thoughtfully, "I could get you one."

Paradox was taken aback slightly. She was so accustomed to living without one that she never thought about getting one. But if she would, she sure as pit wouldn't get it from a creepy mech like him.

She found herself snorting, "At what price?"

He grinned, "Name it."

If she wasn't creeped out before, she sure was now. Luckily, another signature appeared down the corridor, and both Cybertronians turned to glance at the stoic, dark blue mech with a gleaming red visor. She didn't think she would ever be so relieved to see Soundwave at that moment. He had smoothly walked up to the both of them, his visored gaze on the tall, blue mech, before they had moved down to her.

"Paradox; needed for imperative allocution." He rumbled deeply.

She almost wanted to gasp. He'd said her actual name.

But the moment was short-lived as the tension hung high in the air. Soundwave stared up at the mech again, and they stared at each other for a long moment, as if sizing the other one up. But to her relief, the tension was broken, as the blue mech let out a humorless chuckle.

"Alright. I can see when I'm not wanted," He turned to me, "I'll see you around, Paradox." They way that he had said her designation made her tanks churn again. He gave her another eerie grin before walking away.

Only leaving Soundwave left.

"Thanks for that." She muttered, giving a sigh of relief.

Soundwave, as usual, didn't say anything. He had just stared at her, before turning to walk away. Paradox's optics ridges scrunched together in confusion.

"Wait..." She was actually surprised that he paused. "Didn't you say you had something to tell me? Wasn't it imperative?"

"Negative."

The confusion only deepened, "So...you lied?"

To her surprise, he nodded.

She shook her helm, still very confused. Lying; It wasn't a very Soundwave thing to do. "For what?"

He had turned around so fast that he was next to her in a blink of an optic. He stared down at her, his frame looming over her like it did many times. But Paradox wasn't intimidated, instead she stared back up at him, like the defiant little femme she was. Her servos were crossed firmly around her chassis, and the look in her optics demanded answers for her confusion. Soundwave was slightly amused.

"For _you_."

Her optics widened, but before she could say anything, he was already gone.

* * *

 **Oh geez, Airachnid and the scientist is at it again! And aren't Frenzy and Rumble just two adorable little fraggers. I'm pretty sure it's not hard to guess who Soundwave was talking to ;). Thanks for reading, guys, make sure to leave a review!**


	15. Words Not Said

**Sorry I disappeared for a while! School is really starting to kick my butt omg. But thank you for bringing this fic to 80 reviews, that really means a lot! We're so close to 100!**

 **Stacked Waters: Haha, true.**

 **DyslexicFont: Thank you, and I appreciate the criticism. I know, I have to go back and edit some chapters because of mistakes, I've just been really bust these past few weeks! Soundwave is also mine's as well lol.**

 **Seeker3: *Smiles* He sure did! And oh yes, Airachnid and the scientist are definitely not up to any good!**

 **BarricadesDemon216: She sure was, and yeah...those two know what's up XD**

 **AquaJinx: Same**

 **WhiteDiamondNinja8484: Yes, he definitely threw her for a loop! Oh yeah, poor Para. And yes...Soundwave does have a face and it will be revealed...but of course not now! Gotta stick around to find out when ;)**

 **Retrokill: Yeah, if you think of it like that he kinda is...I always thought he was so stern and straight-to-the-point when he talked. But that's just me lol.**

 **The Silvernote: Yeah, you will! Haha, thanks for the review!**

* * *

Fifteen: Words Not Said

 _Whack!_

Paradox gasped in surprise, before grumbling a low string of curses as her helm vibrated with pain. Her ruby optics flickered down to the pincers that clattered to the floor, and knew immediately where they came from. Annoyed, she glared up at Nightblade, who was busy filing away medical reports from a check-up. Paradox hissed again as the pain throbbed. She could've sworn Nightblade was related to the Autobot medic Ratchet with the way she threw.

"Um... _ow_?!" The violet femme protested, standing up.

"Oops, it must've slipped." The blue medic muttered.

Her jaw felt like it dropped to the ground, _"Slipped?"_

"Uh huh."

"So you're saying a 200 pound pincher just accidentally slipped out of your hand and happened to be heading in the direction of my helm?" The violet femme replied, sarcasm practically dripping from her tone.

"That's right." Nightblade replied, but the small smirk that curled on the edges of her lip-plates was enough to give her away.

"You know you're supposed to fix your patients, not harm them." Paradox grumbled, but her irritation was lessening by the smile on Nightblade's faceplates.

"I know. And speaking of patients, it's time for your check-up."

"Primus." The violet femme muttered, languidly pushing herself off the counter she'd dazed off on and walked over to the medberth. She sat down and crossed her arms, while the medic went over the standard check-up routine.

"What were you thinking about anyway?" Nightblade wondered.

Paradox sighed, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

The violet femme hesitated for a few moments, and felt the familiar flush of embarrassment course through her. She wasn't so sure how Nightblade would react to this, but she hoped she would hear her out first. Because it _did_ sound crazy.

"Um...it was a mech." She mumbled sheepishly, one servo creeping up to rub the back of her neck, but Nightblade smacked it away.

The blue medic raised an optic ridge, "Well, that's definitely surprising. I assumed you hated all the mechs on here."

"W-Well, not all of them." She muttered, but she knew Nightblade could hear her. What was she doing? _Why_ was she even saying this?

"So, a mech's caught your optic. Who is it?" She asked, looking up from her check up, seeming genuinely curious.

"It's not like that." She tried to defend, but it felt weak as she vocalized it, "I was just...curious about him."

"Is it a mech I know?" She pressed on.

 _Primus...am I really going to admit this out loud?_ She thought.

"Well um...yes, you do know him I suppose."

Nightblade tilted her helm, her expression appeared thoughtful for a moment before her optic widened in horror, "It isn't Knock Out, is it?"

Paradox felt the need to physically reel back in disgust. "Frag no! Definitely _not_ him!"

She seemed relieved at that, "Good. Well, who is it then?"

The violet femme sighed. "It's-"

"Nightblade!" A familiar, high-class accented voice barked. The two femme turned around to meet the crimson optics of Knock Out. The CMO had his shiny, newly-painted arms crossed across his chassis as he glared at the two femmes warily for a moment, before rolling his optics.

"Yes sir?" The blue medic asked quietly. Paradox could feel the cheery mood of the room drop into something cold and icy.

Knock Out sneered, "Megatron requests your presence again. He's rather impatient today...I wouldn't want to keep him waiting if I were you."

 _They put me into slavery, along with a lot of other children from the Towers. For a Stellar Cycle, I was at the hands of the Decepticons. Enduring their abuse..._

She could feel the steady, surge of heat rising inside of her chassis. Her armor flared ever so slightly, and bit down on her lip so that she wouldn't be tempted to snap on the arrogant mech right then. It all started to make sense now; why sometimes Nightblade would be gone for almost an entire day, and come back with slight dents to her armor. Why she almost always avoided the subject when Paradox asked, and why those normally brilliant pink optics were dimmed and clouded with silent suffering.

How could she have been so stupid to miss the signs?

She was being _abused_!

The rage coursed inside of her, strong like never before. Her spark was thrumming so hard in her chest that she felt like it would tear her chest-plates open. She was about two breaths away from introducing Knock Out's perfect little face-plate to her fist.

Nightblade glanced at her, and the one look said it all; _No._

 _:Don't do it Para.:_ She was almost taken back by the voice that suddenly filled her helm.

Almost.

 _:Why shouldn't I? They're abusing you! Does anyone else even know?!:_ She argued back.

Nightblade didn't sigh, but she could hear it from the tone of her voice. _:I've been dealing with this for a very long time Paradox. I know how to handle Megatron...just please, don't do anything stupid for me. I've already told you too much. The last thing I want is for you to get caught up in all of this.:_

 _:But-:_

 _:I will be okay.:_ Her pink optics dimmed again, and without another word- verbal or mental-the blue medic followed Knock Out out of the med bay.

Paradox wanted to scream. She had never been so frustrated, helpless, pissed off, and ready to rip armor off all at once. It was the like the emotions were on fast-forward, flowing into her endlessly. She wanted so bad to walk up to Knock Out and tell him to go frag himself. She wanted so badly to keep Nightblade here, where she was safe and she could keep an optic on her. She wanted to end this mission now, take Nightblade and get the pit out of here.

But most of all, she wanted to beat the living slag out of something. And unfortunately, that seemed to be the only desire she could achieve.

She heard the soft screech of metal, and glanced down at the berth, noticing for the first time that her servos had clenched down hard on the medberth. Hard enough to leave dents. She grimaced, removing her servos. She still had this boiling cauldron of rage inside of her, so she jumped up to her pedes and exited the medbay briskly. The more she thought about how helpless she felt, the more angrier she grew. She was already cursing up a storm about Megatron, Knock Out, and the Decepticons in general.

She was only a few corridors away from the training room, when she suddenly ran into a navy blue wall.

Or in actuality, a chassis. _Soundwave's_ chassis.

She didn't even try to mutter an apology as she brushed past him, intent on getting to the training room and beating on the first object she saw. But then Soundwave had to go and grab her arm to get her attention.

"Para-"

"Not now!" She snapped, completely disregarding Decepticon protocol. She tried to yank her arm out of his grip, but when his dextrous fingers curled around her arm, she knew it was just better to give up. He wasn't going to let her go until he had what he wanted. "What do you want?!"

"Femme is aggravated."

She snorted, rolling her optics, "No, I'm peachy keen."

"Sarcasm; not appreciated." He deadpanned.

She groaned, "Okay _yes,_ I'm not in a good mood! I am in a very bad mood and all I want to do is be alone so just let go of me!"

"Femme is aggravated. Why?"

"That's none of your business."

"Mental stability of all soldiers imperative. Soundwave must make sure."

"Oh for the love of Primus-"

"Faster Femme concedes, faster Soundwave will _debate_ letting go." He interrupted, holding out one digit.

" _Why_ do you care?!" She suddenly snapped, drawing the attention to a few other mechs in the hall. They glanced over, but one stern look from the Communication's Officer had them walking away.

Paradox couldn't care less about the stares. She was angry and slightly irrational, "You said it yourself, I'm just a soldier to you! So why do you constantly feel the need to check up on me and be near me like I'm some kind of... _sparkling_! You make me feel like I can't do anything for myself when I'm around you, you always have to be right about everything and have everything go _your_ way! I'm tired of it, Soundwave! I'm tired of the confusion, and these mind-games that you play with me! You're either a condescending braggart or an overprotective guardian! So I ask you this, what am I to you? Huh? Am I a dumb little soldier that keeps getting in your way, or some, helpless femme you feel the need to protect? What is it?!" By this time, she was nearly screaming. Her pants were low and heavy as she glared up at the silent blue mech, who's expression was unreadable. She was too angry to realize that half the things she said probably weren't supposed to leave her processors, but she didn't care.

"Answer _me_!" She shouted, stepping closer to get into the mech's face.

The grip on her arm suddenly tighten to a point that she felt a pained gasp escaped her. Soundwave suddenly began moving, down the hall, and she had no choice but to be dragged along. She tried to fight it, digging her claws into his forearm while also trying to dig her pedes into the ground. She didn't care that she was shouting, cursing, struggling, and screaming at him the whole way down. She didn't even realize they were at her quarters until he hacked the room and the hatch slid open.

She was pressed up against the wall, and pinned there by one of his strong arms. She dug her claws into anything she could, before Soundwave grabbed them and twisting them slightly so that she felt a surge of discomfort, but not pain, as he pinned them against her chassis. He leaned in close, the red of his visor gleaming brightly in the dark, dim room.

She heard a soft click, and the visor moved.

She felt a small gasp escape her. The visor didn't display much, it was still covering his much of his face, but his mouth was exposed. And that managed to make her still, as she studied that mouth, memorizing it and the sharp, angular jaw that came with it.

"Soundwave does not do this to distress Paradox," He said, the words low and strained, as if he was trying hard to put his thoughts into words. But in his case, he probably was. "Soundwave does is because...Carrier Protocols forces him to."

"Carrier Protocols?" She echoed.

"Protocols installed in Carrier who carry symbiotes. The reason why the bond is strong. It is protocol to protect symbiotes." He explained.

"So that's what you think of me? As a symbiote you have to protect?" She asked.

The tall mech looked away, which surprised her. "Negative."

"Then what am I?"

There was a long pause of silence.

But Paradox didn't stop looking at him, even if he couldn't look her in the optic.

"Soundwave...doesn't...know."

It was probably the straightest answer he's ever given her. She felt his digits uncurl from around her forearm, as he slowly backed away.

"No," She found herself saying, and the pedesteps stopped, "Don't go...please."

Soundwave did not face her.

"I..." She trailed off, staring down at the ground. Words were suddenly hard to form, and she didn't know what to say. So instead, she said this, "I would like to spar again. I-If that's okay with you?"

Another long pause of silence, before Soundwave's mask clicked back into place, as he turned to look back at her.

"Affirmative."

* * *

 **It seems Soundwave and Para reached an understanding...maybe? Lol, anyway thanks for reading and make sure to leave a review!**


	16. A Shift in Perspective

**I'M BACK. Sorry for the long absence I took, my laptop's messed up _again_ , and I hate school which is all that can really be said for that. And because I took such an absence, I will give you this special little early chapter!**

 **quantumleap13: Wow, thanks I'm very glad you like it!**

 **Sirenix Prime: Haha, thank you!**

 **Guest: Sorry for the long wait, but here it is!**

 **Emma214: Wow, really? Thanks :)**

 **BarricadesDemons216: Ohh yes it does!**

 **DyslexicFont: Thank you!**

 **Starlight. Moonlight. Sunshine: Wow, thank you so much! I'm so glad you love it!**

 **WhiteDiamondNinja8484: Haha, yeah he just might! Well, she's getting closer to breaking through his exterior walls. And yes, I really do feel bad for the awful life I've given Nightblade...but in time it will get better! Here it is!**

 **The Silvernote: Haha, thank you! Hmm, I think you just need to switch the "s" with a "c".**

* * *

Sixteen: A Shift in Perspective

Soundwave had once again, beaten her senseless. But for once the violet femme didn't mind; he understood her anger, and her need to have an outlet to take all that anger out on. For the past few cycles, the silent Communications Officer has noticed the change the in the small femme's demeanor. She was no longer the timid, shy femme who couldn't get a sentence out in his presence without stumbling or making optic-contact. Those things were pet peeves that happened to annoy Soundwave. She was no longer the small femme who kept her delicate doorwings tucked in, and had her armor pressed so tightly to her protoform, because she was intimidated by everything and everyone. That used to annoy Soundwave too.

When he had first met her, his opinion of her was almost nonexistent. She always looked confused and feeble; traits that didn't go well with being a Decepticon soldier. He honestly thought that she would last an orn, but as much as he didn't like to admit it, he was _wrong._ Soundwave had miscalculated Paradox's strength and perseverance. She was a strong fighter, and skilled enough to rival Megatron himself. She had a certain fierceness that revealed itself when she gets frustrated, only pushing her to fight that much harder. And she's only grown even stronger.

She fights with even _more_ ferocity. Her skills were sharper, with armor bulky enough to suit her. And those ruby optics, held a whirlwind of emotions behind them, but determination shone through the brightest, reminding Soundwave of himself from a distant past. She was definitely not afraid to speak her mind. The Communications Officer kept telling himself he only let her speak that way with him was because she was maturing and growing stronger.

But overall, the femme had changed. She was no longer some insignificant, clueless femme who Soundwave would barely give time of the day for. And she made sure that he knew it. She had kept popping up into his life until he was forced to remember her name. Paradox; a force to be reckon with.

Behind his dark visor, Soundwave felt the edges of his lip-plates tip up into a small, satisfied smirk. And he ducked a lethal kick to the abdomen while he did it. He didn't know why he felt so haughty about her change. A strange emotion had surged through his systems, making his spark pound slightly harder, and Soundwave frowned. Would he dare to call this feeling... _admiration?_

He blocked the ludicrous idea.

But what else could he call it? He thought to himself. And perseverance was a good characteristic to have, was it so bad for Soundwave to admire that about her? Soundwave had dipped low, just barely managing to miss the blow to his helm. He had quickly swooped down and knocked the violet femme off of her pedes, and she hit the ground. _Hard._

 _"Oof!"_ She mumbled as her frame hit the ground.

Perhaps he was too quick to judge her skill. "Paradox; able to continue sparring?"

"Yes, but you didn't have to knock me so hard." She grumbled, picking herself back up. He watched her optics widened with pain, before collapsed back to her knees. Soundwave was right beside her in an instant.

"My doorwings," She said through gritted teeth, trying to bite back the hiss of pain.

The blue mech had scanned her quickly, and noticed that he _had_ knocked her down quite harshly. Enough to sprain her left wing, but luckily not enough to dislocate it. He bent down beside her, his long digits expertly tracing over her wing. To his surprise, they were naturally adjacent, but her left was bending far more than what should be normal. Paradox hissed in pain again, and Soundwave quickly went to work, carefully mending the appendage. The hisses had started to die down, before turning into sighs of relief. He had straightened it again, his thumbs were rubbing over the wires that had connected to her spine to ease the discomfort. What he didn't expect, was a low moan to escape her.

And from the looks of it, Paradox wasn't expecting it either. Her helm snapped up, and her wide ruby optics met his passive mask.

"Um," She said, her voice slightly higher pitched before she had coughed and stood up, "I think that's enough sparring for tonight."

He silently nodded.

There was another pause, as she rubbed the space between her wings, before smiling nervously, "Goodnight Soundwave." She had turned and walked away.

 _"Goodnight."_ Soundwave had replayed the clip of her voice, back to the empty training room.

* * *

Paradox had wandered down the dim corridors to her quarters, a strange buzzing feeling throbbing from the center of her spine. She wasn't sure if it was from Soundwave nearly dislocating her wing, or his soft touch as he mended her afterwards. The scene had replayed in her processors, and she wanted to bang her helm against the wall when she had moaned.

"Primus," She shook her helm, muttering to herself, "What the pit was I doing?"

Not only was it embarrassing, but she did it in front of _Soundwave._ He was just starting to tolerate her, what would he think of her now? _He's probably disgusted,_ She thought bitterly, typing in the passcode to her quarters, _He probably assumes I no better than some slagging pleasure-bot._ To her misfortune, the thought had caused bright blue energon to spread across her cheeks, and she groaned, letting herself fall onto her berth.

"Congratz Para, now he thinks you want to jump his circuits," She mumbled, shifting in her berth to face the high window, "Such an idiot."

When her optics had opened, she was relieved to find herself early for once. After stretching her wings, which still thrummed with that strange sensation, before leaving her quarters to go down to the lounge. It wasn't obnoxiously full, which Paradox silently thanked Primus for as she grabbed a cube.

"Morning Paradox."

She nearly spilt the energon, from the shiver of shock that had jolted through her systems. The violet femme spun on her pedes, coming faceplates to faceplates with the purple-optic scientist again. He had quickly extended a blue hand, grabbing her by the elbow and steadying her so that the energon didn't spill. She looked up at him, and a cool grin split his features. She internally groaned.

"Woah there, didn't mean to startle you." He said, still holding her arm.

Paradox promptly shook him off, "I'm fine." She started to walk away, but the scientist fell into pace with her.

"Let me carry that for you, sweetspark."

"No need sir, it's fine." She said firmly.

"Why do you have two cubes anyway? Don't tell me there's another mech that's already taken your spark."

Paradox faltered, and that was all the opportunity he needed to step in front of her, smoothly blocking her from the exit. She grimaced at him, but the scientist was too busy trying to pretend to be in deep thought., "Hmm, well I don't see you interacting with many bots, besides that other femme in the Med Bay. Oh...well, there _is_ Megatron's silent handy mech. But I didn't think he had enough emotions to even understand love or desire."

Paradox's optics narrowed slightly, "You mean Soundwave?"

"That's his designation?" He asked, before shrugging indifferently, "Suits him."

Annoyance flared up in her spark, but she dampened it back down, "Yes, it is. And no, I am not involved with anyone. I'm just-"

"Well, in that case, I'll take it." He said without a thought, interrupting Paradox and grabbing one of the cubes in her hand. "Why don't we have a seat and chat? I know you have some time before patrol round start."

She was dragged over before she could really answer.

"If you decided being a Decepticon isn't the life for you, would you ever consider going into the black markets?" He asked, and her optics widened.

"What?"

"Black markets," He repeated casually, "I do a lot of work there, you can make a lot of money that way. Much more efficient way to get around, you know?"

She frowned, "What makes you think I'm here for money?"

He snorted, "I know you aren't. Megatron doesn't pay his soldiers. I just assumed you only joined because it was a way to get yourself off the streets."

Her armor stiffened, "What did you just say?"

He seemed to notice her change in mood, as his purple optics dimmed and he went on carefully, "I didn't mean it in a disrespectful way, sweetspark. Look," he leaned in, which caused her armor to stiffen even more, "I am genuinely trying to help you. Life is hard, and the streets are even harder, I know because I speak from experience. It's pretty obvious that you want a place to start over, so you thought joining the Decepticons would be good for you. But you're smart, I can tell, and you're intelligence is only going to waste away in here. But if you work for _me_ , on the other hand, I can help you get to where you want to be. And exploit all of your talents." His optics roamed down her frame for a moment, and her digits twitched around the cube in rage.

"So Para, what do you say?" He asked, giving her that annoying little smirk again.

"Sorry sir, but you've read me all wrong," She began calmly, "I'm not some helpless little femme. I'm here because I _want_ to be here, this is what I believe in."

"Is that so?" His voice was incredulous, as he raised an optic ridge. He was close, _too_ close.

"Yes." She answered quickly, before her optics darted over to the Cybertronian who had walked in, along with his two rambunctious companions. As soon as the twins saw her, they smiled.

 _"Para!"_

Paradox stood up quickly, warmly embracing Rumble and Frenzy.

"Why's that creepy mech talkin' to ya?" Frenzy whispered.

She rolled her optics, "It's nothing."

"Well ditch him and come with us." Frenzy then said, tugging on her leg.

"Yeah." Rumble agreed.

She felt his presence before his tall frame came into view, and she looked up at the dark blue mech.

"Soundwave." She said softly, trying to keep her voice even.

He had given no response, instead he was darkly silent. The violet femme glanced at the symbiotes but they had all shrugged, not knowing what had changed his mood, but they were quick to ask questioning pings over the bond. Soundwave ignored them all, and swiftly walked out of the room.

"Seems like the silent mech had something to say," The purple-optic mech muttered, walking over to her. And before Frenzy could growl out a retort, Paradox had excused herself, walking down the corridor after him.

"Soundwave!" She called, but when she realized he was ignoring her, she had to run up and stand in his way. She crossed her arms, and defiantly glared up at the looming mech, "What was that back there?"

"None of femme's concern." He stated sternly.

"Oh so you're back to calling me femme now?" She raised an optic ridge, "You seemed perfectly fine when you walked in, so what gives?"

"As stated; none of femme's concern."

"Okay, now you're acting like a little-"

Suddenly, she was trapped against the wall, with Soundwave's leering, angry frame towering over her. She showed no fear as she looked up at him, trying to get to the bottom of this sudden anger. Soundwave leaned down in a way that she couldn't help but admit was menacing.

"Femme will stay away from Pyro."

"Who's Pyro?" She asked.

"Pyro; scientist experimenting with illegal chemicals. Do not approach."

"Or what?" Paradox asked, raising an optic ridge.

His voice had dropped into a deep, guttural tone. "Soundwave will make sure femme regret it."

"Is that a threat?" She found herself barely mumbling, .

Soundwave pressed a hand against the wall next to her helm, leaning in closer, making her dreaded spark pulse faster. _"Affirmative."_

And as always, he was gone.

* * *

 **I get so much pleasure in writing a jealous Soundwave. Thank you for reading and sticking by through all my crap, hope you guys enjoyed the early chapter! Next one should be out on Thursday.**


	17. Best Laid Plans

**I'm sorry, I said this chapter would be out last week but I didn't finish it on time.**

 **Emma214: Thank you, and I'm super flattered. Let me know when you post one so I can read it :)**

 **BarricadesDemon216: Oh he's definitely jealous.**

 **grievousrommel: Haha, I _love_ this response! Thanks for the review!**

 **WhiteDiamondNinja8484: OMG, they haven't gotten that far yet lol. And yeah, I don't want to give too much away but there will be one. This fic wouldn't be called "The Art of Deception" if there wasn't one lol.**

 **The Silvernote: Ohh yeah he is! Thank you, I'm happy to be back and you're welcome ;)**

 ** _HOLY MOLY_ WE'RE ALMOST AT _100_ REVIEWS. WOULDN'T IT BE AWESOME IF WE COULD REACH THAT THIS CHAPTER? *raises eyebrows***

* * *

Seventeen: Best Laid Plans

"Paradox..."

"Paradox?"

 _"Paradox!"_

The violet femme blinked, her optics refocusing before her ruby gaze darted down to the two symbiotes in front of her. Rumble and Frenzy were giving her a pointed glare, in which she responded to with a nervous smile.

"Sorry guys," She chuckled nervously, "What did you say?"

"We asked if you wanted to come with us to the storage room."

She blinked, raising an optic ridge in confusion, "Why there?"

"Ravage got a bit dented-up on his last run-in with the Autobots," Rumble explained, "Soundwave's been pestering us all morning on getting some supplies down from the storage room. Normally we'd be worried, but it's just a scratch."

Of course it would be Soundwave. The mech that's been plaguing her thoughts for a good couple of joors now. Ever since he left her, aghast, in the corridor. It only brought up more questions, which she had no answers to.

"Oh," She nodded, and walked with the symbiotes down the hall, "Why can't Soundwave just take Ravage to the Med Bay?"

Frenzy snorted, "That's a funny joke."

Paradox frowned, "I was being serious."

"Soundwave doesn't trust Knock Out as far as he can throw him, which is pretty far actually." Frenzy shook his helm, and continued, "Anyway, Soundwave is the one who repairs us. He always does. Unless it's a dire emergency, then he'd ask Knock Out."

"It's a bit of a risk, don't you think? If he was ever incapacitated, and if one of you were hurt badly." The violet femme wondered, "Why wouldn't he trust his comrades anyway?" She knew Soundwave was a mech who kept to himself, but she didn't think he was introverted like that. It's a wonder that he had managed to interact with her so much.

Frenzy shrugged, "He's just like that. Besides, Knock Out knows what he's doing. If he ever hurt us, Soundwave would offline him without another thought."

"Has he ever fixed you?" She asked.

Rumble nodded, "Once. It was an Autobot invasion, Soundwave was hit, and so was Buzzsaw. Damn silver savage nearly tore his wing from his socket, both of them were in extensive medical care for orns."

Paradox internally cringed at the thought. She remembered that day, and how victorious Sideswipe was when they had returned back to the base, bragging about how he blasted 'Soundwave and his freakish bird' to the moons and back. At the time, she had been happy, it was one step closer to liberating Cybertron. But now...the thought of Soundwave getting hurt, made her tank churn in an uncomfortable manner. Soundwave was somebot she assumed was a tall, looming, impenetrable fortress.

But then again, no bot was indestructible.

Although, Soundwave came in a pretty close second.

They had arrived down at the lower levels of the enormous warship, and Frenzy had typed in a passcode that pushed open the large, metal doors. Paradox's optics immediately glowed a ruby red in the dimmed darkness, until the lights flickered on languidly. A low hum buzzed in the air, and she glanced around the room intently. It reminded her of the creepy scientist's- or _Pyro,_ as Soundwave called him- lab. An eerie silence had settled, and she felt her armor tighten to her frame.

"It'll just take a second," Frenzy mumbled, feeling the same eeriness as the twins went off in a direction of large metal crates.

Paradox shivered. _Why_ would anyone keep anything remotely valuable down here? Dark wires had hung low from the ceiling, some barely intact which only testified to how long and unkept the storage room truly was. Paradox wondered why Megatron had designed one in the first place, when suddenly, she jolted as the creaky metal doors had opened. Her armor tightened almost uncomfortably to her frame, as she glanced around for the symbiotes, who were nowhere to be found. Cursing lowly to herself, she used her swift and agile strength to pull herself over a particularly large crate and squatted down, cloaking her spark signature.

The two voices filled the room.

"This is where the Lord Protector puts it?" The distinctly female voice scoffed, "Classy."

Paradox grimaced at hearing the cunning spider-like femme again. And she could only guess with dread, whose voice was accompanying her. Who seemed to always be accompanying her.

"Do you see it?" Pyro asked, his voice devoid of any amusement. Which was strange, seeing as he was always trying to charm her for some odd reason. She could pick up on their pede-steps; they were coming closer.

"No," Airachnid retorted, and the violet femme could imagine the optic-roll that came with it.

"Knock Out said muttered something about the markings on it; old Kaonic symbols. That was our key." Pyro responded. Paradox twitched at the sound of a crate falling, before a low, slew of curses escaped the other femme's vocalizer.

"Slag this all to pit!" She hissed, and Paradox felt an alarming shudder roll down her spinal strut at how silent it went after that. Her optics widened for a moment. Frenzy and Rumble were still in here, if they were quiet than that means they were hiding as well...did they get caught? She was sure they wouldn't get into too much trouble for it, but her getting caught would be a different story. She couldn't put her digit on it, but she felt that there was a reason this storage room was so secluded and remote from the rest of the warship. The Decepticons were hiding something...something she was sure she had no clearance to know about.

"I found it!" Came Airachnid's sudden exclamation, and then the quick shuffling of pedes as they moved in the opposite direction. Paradox let out a sigh of relief.

"Good," Pyro muttered a moment later, "Now, let's get out of here."

"Why? In a rush to go harass that cute little femme?" She teased, and Paradox frowned.

"Mute it Airachnid."

"Why? Because I'm right?"

"I'm _not_ harassing her!"

"Sure, and she's totally _not_ uncomfortable every time you approach her."

"What relevance does this have to the serum?" Pyro snapped.

Airachnid scoffed again, "I'm just teasing you, Pyro." And then she added, "And besides, I think she had her optics set out on someone else."

Pyro spluttered, "H-How do you know that?"

"I'm observant. It's what I'm paid to be." She replied, matter-of-factly.

"You don't know anything about her." He muttered.

"Other than the fact that she's hanging around Soundwave's symbiotes. It's quite clear who she belongs to," Airachnid gave a meaningful pause, "I wouldn't mess with Soundwave, Pyro."

Pyro scoffed at that, "I am not afraid of him, Airachnid."

"Well you should be, only an idiot would try to challenge him. And besides, he isn't Megatron's third in Command for nothing." She said, and Paradox could hear the voices moving back towards the entrance.

"Yes, but I am here upon Megatron's _specific_ request. He couldn't hurt me without facing dire consequences now, could he?" There was something sinister about the way that he had said it, and Paradox frowned even deeper.

Airachnid chuckled, "Weren't you the one talking about how we have no place here?"

"We do now, and it's at the top."

"Somewhat."

"It's good enough, for now." The doors had opened again, before shutting unceremoniously.

Paradox released a breath she didn't even realize she was holding in, before standing up slowly from her hidden place. "Rumble? Frenzy?" She called out softly, looking around the dimmed room.

"Yeah. We're here."

The symbiotes had appeared from behind two higher crates, jumping down until they were at ground floor. Rumble had been carrying the materials they had came for, but the unsettling look that Paradox felt was on their matching faces-plates. It wasn't until they were away from the storage room that Frenzy had tentatively asked;

"What did they mean by all that 'who she belongs to' stuff?"

"N-Nothing." She mumbled, and cursed herself for stuttering.

Rumble creased his optic ridges, "Is there something going on between you that we didn't know about."

She laughed it off, "Don't be ridiculous."

Frenzy stopped, optics widened in shock, "No...way."

"What?" Paradox stopped too, "What way?"

Frenzy smirked, "You...and Soundwave..."

"It all make sense now!" Rumble said, and his brother nodded in agreement.

"W-What the pit are you two talking about?" Paradox said, dreading their secret smirks.

"These feelings of fierce protectivness," Frenzy went on, "I thought it was for us, now I get it. It's for _you._ "

"Huh?!"

"Yeah, and the random bursts of pleasantness that rolls through the bond." Rumble added, nodding his helm.

"What if these feelings turn into something more?!" Frenzy exclaimed to Rumble, seeming to get excited.

"Oh yeah, and..." They trailed off, and Paradox could tell, to her dismay, that they were talking excitedly over the bond. Whatever it was about, was probably at her expense. The smiles that grew on their lip-plates suddenly seemed less endearing and more terrifying as Paradox searched their optics, trying to find any clue on what they were planning. Because she knew they were planning something.

"You two," She pointed at them, trying to be intimidating, "Better not do anything stupid."

"No promises!" Frenzy said, before they suddenly turned off, racing down a corridor. Paradox would have followed them, but it was the higher-ranking halls, which she had no clearance to.

She sighed deeply in frustration, rubbing the sides of her temples, before changing her route so that it would lead to the Med Bay. Nightblade should be back by now. She just hoped the blue medic was okay. And she also couldn't help but wonder about the exchange between the spider femme and the creepy scientist. They had spoken about a serum, a serum so important that they had hid it away, and was crucial to whatever plans Knock Out and Megatron have laid out.

Now if only she could figure out what those plans entailed.

* * *

 **Oh Primus, anyone wondering what those twins are up to lol? And Airachnid and Pyro? There's a lot that about's to go down, so I'm laying it out as carefully as I can without dropping too many hints about the "serum" and what it has to do with something Para has! The plot is thickening is all I can really say, and I'm excited for it! Thanks for reading, and make sure to leave a review! *cough cough* a hundred *cough cough***


	18. Sinking Suspicions

**Thank you guys so much for 100!**

 **Starlit Storyteller: Thank you! And haha, yeah the twins are definitely up to no good.**

 **Reader-Writer-Animato: Why, thank you. And I guess, you could say that. I was thinking since it takes place right at the beginning of the war, I could give Airachnid kind of a small little origin story. Like she used to be in the black market business and stuff in Kaon, before she became a cold-sparked Decepticon killer. And oh yeah, when Para finds out what's been really going on with the Cons, she will be conflicted. Thank you again, and of course I do't min you commenting on my version of Airachnid. I just thought it'd be fun to give her a before-the-war persona.**

 **DawnofShadows256: Thanks, glad that I keep you guessing ;)**

 **The Silvernote: Thank you, and I am very happy that I did make it this far! Lol oh yeah, when Rumble and Frenzy are plotting, you know slag's gonna go down. I'm glad you're curious, because the serum will grow to be very important!**

 **Tfploverrrr .aka. char: Your welcome! And lol, yep things are just getting started! Actually, I think you were my 100th reviewer, so I owe you a double thank you!**

 **BarricadesDemons216: Oh yes it is! Thanks!**

 **Icy's last breath: Lol, doesn't everyone?**

* * *

Eighteen: Sinking Suspicions

Paradox couldn't explain why, but something felt amiss. It had been a few cycles since the incident in the storage room, but ever since Pyro had mentioned the serum, she couldn't get it off of her processors. _What was this serum? And why was it so important that they kept it locked away in a storage room?_ So many questions kept fluttering inside her processors, and it only vexed her that she couldn't answer any of them. Now these cycles, it seems like she couldn't find an answer to anything...

But this feeling, it wouldn't stop bothering her. It was like an uncomfortable sensation, gnawing at her spark and making her chassis feel heavy. Everything seemed fine; she went on her patrol rounds like she did, she visited Nightblade who had returned to the med bay, to her relief. She had even been with the twins, even if the secret looks they kept sending each other drove her insane. She hadn't seen Soundwave, but that was because he was on another mission. The only oddity that she could think of was Pyro's presence, or lack there of. The eerie, purple-opticed scientist hasn't tried to approach her, in fact, she hasn't seen him at all.

 _But that's a good thing, right?_ Paradox mentally asked herself. Well, she _thought_ it would be a good thing. But then the questions formed. Why would he be avoiding her? Was there a small chance, that Pyro _knew_ she was there when they were in the storage room? The violet femme tried to shake the thoughts away, but the more she tried to dismiss them, the more insistent they came back, even louder and more annoying than before.

She kept telling herself that the feeling was irrational. That she was probably only feeling this way because she saw something she wasn't supposed to see. But she sure didn't feel this way when she snuck into Shockwave's lab. Or when she stole one of his canisters. So what was so different now? _Why_ did these feelings of apprehension surge in her chassis, and leave a bad taste on her glossa? She had remember only feeling this way once before, and that was way back in her youngling hood.

She sighed, walking up the ramp to check in and give her report on her patrol round.

"Designation." The voice had completely stunned her, and her optics darted to the thick, bulky mech at the desk. For a moment all she could do was stare at him, in blatant shock. The mech's crimson gaze narrowed, hints of frustration on his face-plates, " What? Don't tell me you don't know you're own designation."

Paradox shook her helm, forcing her expression to remain neutral, "I'm sorry...you were just not the mech I was expecting."

He rolled his optics, "Sorry to disappoint. Now, give me your designation."

"P-Paradox." The violet femme muttered. She fumbled with her digits for a moment, before blurting out, "What happened to...?"

"Tops?" The green-colored mech asked, before shrugged, "Dunno. Said he disappeared a few cycles ago, so now I'm his replacement."

Paradox frowned at that, "Disappeared? Why?"

The mech's optics narrowed, "Why do you care?"

There it was again. That strange, pressing feeling that made her tanks churn and chassis heavy. "No reason...I was just curious, he didn't seem like a mech to just disappear." Paradox knew for a fact that he wasn't.

The mech looked like he didn't believe her, but at this point, she couldn't care. Her processors were already spinning. The mech said that he disappeared a few cycles ago...sometime after Pyro and Airachnid found the serum. Was it just a coincidence? Or was this feeling inside of her telling was correct on the assumption that something was going on.

After giving her report, she went straight to the Med Bay. Nightblade was there, tending to a Vehicon, when she arrived. Her pink optic glanced up at her approaching figure, and flashed brightly before she focused back on welding a wire in his leg.

"Paradox," She greeted, "Can you hand me that clamp?"

She gave a dazed nod, before rummaging through the tools on her counter and handing it to the blue medic. Nightblade didn't say anything more, her attention focused intently on welding. Once she was done and the wire had been repaired, she had helped the Vehicon over to a berth on the other side of the bay, giving him some medication to ease the pain before allowing him to rest. She didn't leave until he had drifted off into recharge, and Paradox couldn't help but think about the words she'd told her a while ago. About her helping bots, even under circumstances like this.

"You look like you've got something important to say," Nightblade said, cutting her from her thoughts, "What is it?"

"I think I'm just being paranoid." Paradox mumbled, rubbing a temple in her helm.

Nightblade's optics suddenly narrowed, a serious expression morphing her face-plates as she looked the violet femme right in the optics, "What is it?"

"I..." Paradox trailed off, before clearing her vocalizers, "Do you know who Tops is?"

"Yes, he files the patrol reports, doesn't he?"

She nodded, "He disappeared."

Nightblade raised an optic ridge, "He did?" She looked around for a moment, something Paradox realized she did before she disclosed something important, "Well, maybe he left the ranks."

"I don't think it would be that easy, " The violet femme said, "I think something happened to him."

Nightblade looked at her warily, "Something like what?"

"I don't know," Paradox sighed, "I've been feeling strange for the last few cycles. Like something is off, and something dreadful is going to happen because of it. It's just been irking me, and now I hear this and I don't know what to think. I keep telling myself I'm just being irrational, and that maybe this has nothing to do with it but...I haven't seen Pyro either."

"Wait, wait, wait," Nightblade held her servos up, "Slow down. What are you doing with Pyro?"

"Nothing," She defended sharply, sensing the chastising tone in her voice, "It's not what you think it is! He just...goes out of his way to talk to me sometimes."

"About _what?_ " She inquired.

"Just propositions." She muttered, but it seemed Nightblade heard her loud and clear. Her optics widened furiously. " _N-No_ , not like that!" She quickly defended herself again, "Primus, don't you have any faith in me? It was _work_! Work for a black market!"

Nightblade's optics softened, but she still remained wary, as she shook her helm, "You shouldn't associate yourself with that mech. He's untrustworthy."

"I don't," Paradox mumbled, "But that's not the point I'm getting at. The point is, he usually makes a point to talk to me everyday, but he's been gone too. Ever since..." Paradox hesitated for a moment, "Well, ever since I caught him and Airachnid in the storage."

Her optics widened, this time in surprise, "You were spying on them?"

"No, well not at first. I was already there."

"Doing what?"

"Helping Rumble and Frenzy." She answered sheepishly, and Nightblade sighed.

"Okay, so what were they doing in the storage area?"

"Well, they were looking for a serum," Nightblade raised an optic ridge in confusion, "I don't know much about it, but it seemed important. They said that Megatron and Knock Out were using it for something."

"Did they catch you?" She asked.

Paradox shook her helm, "No. But I just can't help like feeling something isn't right. First Pyro and now Tops and..."

"You think the disappearances are connected." Nightblade concluded.

"Well, maybe. I'm not sure yet, it's just a theory."

"And you think that those disappearances are also connected to this serum, Pyro and Airachnid supposedly have?"

The violet femme nodded. "Does that sound too crazy?"

"Not at all," Nightblade said, "I mean, there's a reason those two are on the warship, right? This might be it."

"They're up to no good." Paradox mumbled, her optics narrowed.

Nightblade opened her mouth to say something, but whatever she was going to say was promptly cut off as the doors to the med bay slid open. Paradox's optics widened as Soundwave stepped those doors, and she couldn't help but notice how the fluorescent lights from above had gleamed down on his dark armor. His visor had turned towards her, and she could practically feel the burning stare from underneath that visor. She felt her spark seized up for a whole different reason now.

"Soundwave?" His gaze turned to Nightblade, who was looking at him with a mix of wariness and shock.

"Nightblade; medical reports?" Soundwave's droned out, but his voice didn't sound as deep and firm as usual. Paradox grimaced.

Nightblade nodded nervously, going around to fish for the files in her desk. She shuffled them together carefully, before handing them to the silent, looming mech. Soundwave had taken them, and disappeared without another word. The stunned silence resumed for a little longer, Nightblade looking confused while Paradox glared in the direction of the doors. All that talk about staying away from Pyro, and now the silent treatment? He didn't even acknowledge her.

"That was odd." Nightblade said, finally breaking the silence.

Paradox snorted, "Isn't Knock Out the one who comes to get the reports?"

"Usually. He must be busy." Nightblade said dismissively, before going over to wipe down her workstation. Paradox, on the other hand, didn't brush off the thought. Soundwave had just come back from a mission. A four-cycles mission. Any sane bot would probably be recharging in their quarters after something like that. So why would he volunteer to come all the way to the other side of the Warship, just for some reports?

A small smile suddenly came to her lip-plates, and Nightblade only shot her a confused glance.

"What's wrong with you now?"

"Nothing." Paradox said, but the smile wouldn't fade. It's not like she wanted it to, "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight, Nightblade." She hopped off her usual spot on the counter, and left the med bay.

"Goodnight?" Nightblade replied.

* * *

 **Seems like Para has come to a triumphant conclusion, huh? Lol. What do you guys think about the disappearances, and how they connect? Can't wait to read your reviews! Also, thanks again for over a hundred, that means a lot to me!**


	19. In the Heat of Moments

**Heyo, back with another chapter!**

 **Starlit Storyteller: Oh yes, there's even more coming! Thanks!**

 **Yuka: It's okay, glad to have you back! That's a good guess, but this story takes place before T-Prime, so they haven't arrived to Earth yet.**

 **BarricadesDemon216: Oh yes, there is something nefarious going on inside the Nemesis. Right under everyone's noses!**

 **The Silvernote: Well, I can't say much without spoiling but you're definitely on the right track. Thank you, and I hope your New Year has been pleasant so far!**

* * *

Nineteen: In the Heat of Moments

Paradox had gotten up earlier that cycle than she had ever since she'd first arrive. There was a lot of things on her processors, and besides, it was time to report for Jazz anyway. She had waited a few extra moments, before shyly pinging Jazz's comm. He answered instantaneously.

 _:Hi Para!:_ He cheered happily, in his smooth voice.

The violet femme cracked a small smile, _:Hello, Jazz.:_

 _:What's wrong? You sound-:_

 _:Exhausted?:_ She supplied.

 _:Well, yeah...:_ Jazz answered reluctantly, he sound like he was frowning.

Paradox snorted, _:It's because I am. But, that's beside the point. I wanted to comm you because I think there's something else going on. Something urgent.:_

 _:What is it, Para?: J_ azz's voice became serious

 _:I had been to their storage room. You remember I mentioned Airachnid, right? Her and her partner, a scientist; named Pyro. They're harboring a serum, and apparently the higher-ups are in on it. And then, cycles after I had discover this, another Decepticon rookie had gone missing. It's just too much of a coincidence to pass up, isn't it?:_

 _:Yeah...that's sounds pretty suspicious.:_

 _:Nightblade agreed with me.: P_ aradox murmured.

 _:Nightblade? Who's that?:_

 _:Oh, yes! Nightblade. She is the Decepticon's lower-ranking medic, she works under Knock Out.:_ She explained.

 _:She?:_ Jazz repeated.

Paradox sighed, _:Yes, after the Decepticons invaded Iacon and the war broke out, they had killed her Sire and enslaved her. Jazz, I have to bring her back with me! At least...to become a Neutral, if she doesn't want to be an Autobot. But she doesn't deserve this! She's being abused by the higher-ups, and ever since she's told me this story...I don't know if I can take it any longer!:_

 _:Calm down sweetspark,:_ Jazz murmured softly, _:I can't understand you when you ramble. Now, about Nightblade.:_

 _:She's my friend Jazz.:_ Paradox said firmly.

 _:Paradox,:_ His tone became serious, _:You have to be careful with that word. She is still with the Decepticons. She could very well be deceiving you.:_

 _:I doubt it.:_ Paradox replied, _:I see the way she is. Every cycle. She's miserable, even if she won't admit it. Of course, she resigns herself to this position because even as much as she hates them, she still wants to help bots, from the bottom of her spark. And I just can't see her go through this anymore. Besides, she's talented. Very talented. She would be a great asset to the Autobots, Jazz. I promise.:_

Jazz was silent for a moment. And she bit her lip-plates nervously.

 _:I can't promise you an answer now. I'll have to talk to the Prime about this, 'kay?:_

Paradox smiled, _:You won't regret it!:_

 _:I hope we don't. See you in a couple of orns. Jazz out.:_ The comm ended.

Paradox disconnected, and stared down at the small, Autobot emblem in her servos. Another wave of forlorn surged inside her, and she sighed, subspacing the insignia again. She knew what she had to do now. If she was going to prove those disappearances had anything to do with the serum, she was going to need to ask some questions. Starting with Tops, who worked very closely with the communications department. Which means she would have to track down a certain, tall silent blue mech. But she had decided she would do that during the end of the cycle, after she visited Nightblade.

* * *

She had a few joors off before her next patrol round, and she decided to spend them in her quarters thinking. Thinking about what Jazz said.

He was right, her mission was going to come to a close soon, and she needed to have some valuable information to come back with. But, there were also other things that were bothering her. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she found herself attached to Rumble and Frenzy...and if they ever found out the truth, they would be spark-broken. They had trusted her, and was kind to her since the moment she got on the Nemesis. And all she could do in return was stab them in the spinal strut. And then there was Soundwave, who was a whole other problem...

She sighed. As much as it would warm her spark to see Retrobeam and Bluestreak again, was it worth the no doubt pain and betrayal she'd knew she'd get from the symbiotes...and Soundwave? The hatch to her quarters had opened, snapping her out of her inner musing as her helm darted to the blue mech standing in the threshold. She hopped up to her pedes instantly, the shock still lingering in her systems as she walked over to him.

"So, you're talking to me now?" She said, crossing her arms nervously over her chassis.

Soundwave didn't say anything, which was expected, but instead pulled something out of subspace. Paradox raised an optic ridge as he retrieved a data pad, before extending it to her. She glanced at the silent mech for a few astro seconds, before looking down warily at the datapad in his digits.

"What is it?" She asked, grabbing it from him.

"Read." Soundwave rumbled.

She stared at him incredulously for another moment, before powering on the data pad. There was a note on the bright screen, written in messy, scrawled glyphs. Paradox squinted as she read the note carefully, her optics gradually widening in horror once the whole note had been read. At first, her processors stalled, and then she blinked, reading the whole thing over again just to make sure that she was reading what she was seeing correctly.

It was a _love_ note. A fragging love note that was apparently written for Soundwave, from _her._ Which was completely impossible, because she would never do something like that! But then, the answer had come to her;

 _The Twins._

She was going to kick their afts.

Soundwave grunted, quietly but loud enough to demand her attention. She slowly glanced up at the looming silent mech. Her lip-plates parted to say something, but her vocalizers refused to produce any sound, which left her making incoherent, stifled sounds as her processors tried to wrap itself around the trick the Twins had just pulled her own. Soundwave, just stared at her unhelpfully.

"You...Y-You know this wasn't me, right?" Paradox finally stuttered out.

"Soundwave; has no time for Paradox's antics. Very busy."

Paradox felt her jaw unhinge, and she shook her helm, "Are you kidding me right now? I just said it _wasn't_ me! So lecture somebot else about it." She sternly pushed the data-pad back into his chest, his servos grabbing it instantaneously.

"Femme; has no reason to lie."

"I'm not lying, and get over yourself. I would never do something like that." She snapped, crossing her arms. Soundwave didn't say anything else, and turned to leave. "W-Wait! Actually, while you're here...I do need to ask you something."

Soundwave stopped, but didn't turn around. That was as good sign as any.

"Um well," The violet femme began nervously, "I was just wondering, you know who Tops is, right?"

It may have just been her, but she could've sworn she saw his frame stiffen fractionally. Another tense moment of silence passed between them, before Soundwave answered with a very cryptic, "Negative."

"But I thought you said every soldier was your business. Well, their welfare at least. And besides, you run security all cycle. Some bots have been saying Tops disappeared, and I just wanted to know if it was true."

"None of Femme's concern." Soundwave replied hastily.

Paradox narrowed her optics, "Are you just acting this way because I basically rejected you?"

Soundwave began walking towards the hatch again. Paradox growled in frustration, "Fine! If you can't tell me about Tops, then would you at least be kind enough to point me in the direction of Pyro?"

The reaction was immediate, and almost startling. Soundwave had turned around so fast that she almost had missed it. She could feel the lethal glare burning through that crimson visor. She knew she was treading into dangerous territory, but she needed answers. She was tired of being left in the dark. And if this was going to be the way to get them, then so be it.

"Repeat Query?" It was rhetorical of course. Paradox could tell just by the low threat in his voice that he definitely didn't want her to say it again.

She said it anyway.

"Pyro," She spat defiantly, and smirked, "Oh you know him, right? The scientist Megatron brought aboard. He's tall, has deep, vivid purple optics, smooth voice, and..." Her smirk grew as she saw his visor burn brighter, "...I don't know, he's kind of handsome."

Soundwave was in front of her in a flash, "Femme; recant."

"Why? Because I'm right?" She pressed, taking a step closer.

"Soundwave will ask once more. Recant."

"No." She said boldly, "Not until you tell me something."

"Soundwave will not speak until Femme has recanted." He answered in a stern voice.

"Fine! Whatever!" She exclaimd, finally fed up with Soundwave's behavior. She sighed, walking away from him. _Fine,_ She thought bitterly to herself, _Why did I think he would say something? He never says anything I need to hear! At least Pyro would tell me willingly._

"Pyro; would not disclose anything to an inferior soldier!" Soundwave snapped, his voice so loud and bold that it startled her.

She turned around, and blinked at him for a moment, "How did you know what I thought?"

"Pyro; will _never_ tell Femme what she wants to know. Only what Pyro feels necessary." He continued, obviously enraged.

"How did you know that I was thinking that?" She asked again, and then her optics widened in realization. Could the rumors she'd heard from the Autobots true. Was Soundwave a...telepath?

" _None_ of Femme's concern." He retorted in a low, cold tone, "And Femme will do well to remember. Nothing is her concern."

"So you do know something." She said quietly, her gaze narrowing again, "You know something about Tops, don't you?"

The stark silence gave her the answer.

"Don't you, Soundwave?!" She yelled.

"Goodbye, Paradox." Was the last thing Soundwave said, before ducking into the hatch again. She growls out in frustration again, slamming her fists down on the door. She tried to open it, but the passcode had been hacked and rewired. She growled again, gritting her denta as she pounded at the door again. She yelled out his designation, slamming her fists down on the door repeatedly, but there was no answer. She scanned several times for a spark signature, updating it so that her scanners would be able to pick up on Soundwave's heavily cloaked spark. There was still nothing. Her spark squeezed with panic, anger, and desperation.

"Soundwave!" She yelled angrily, "Let me out now!"

No reply.

"Soundwave!" She cried out again, pounding harshly on the door, which began to dent.

Still, only silence.

 _"Soundwave!"_ This time, her voice had cracked, into a desperate plea. She felt the liquid gather under her optics, but blinked it away furiously. She called out his name again, but when there was no reply, she sighed. She turned slowly, looking back at her small room, which felt ominous and gloomy now. Slowly, she felt her spinal strut slide against the door, disregarding the slight discomfort it put on her wings as she held her helm between her servos, exhaling sharply.

It was her fault. She said those things to hurt him, to make him feel jealous. To be spiteful and vindictive. But in the end, it only pissed him off and revealed her motives. Now, she probably won't ever get a chance to talk to him again.

She sighed in frustration, leaning her helm against the door.

This was _not_ going as she planned.

* * *

 **No Para, it hasn't. Lol, thanks for reading! Make sure to review!**


	20. Persuasion

_**Hello everyone! I'm back from the dead!**_

 **Jk. But seriously, things have been hectic and I am super sorry for the long period of nothing, I don't think I've updated since early January...wow. Sorry guys.**

 **The Silvernote: Well, wouldn't that be an interesting conundrum? Oh yes, Para is very determined to help free her.**

 **Yuka Anya The Being of Balance: Ohhhh yes. Paradox has definitely learned that lesson the hard way.**

 **Secret: Right? Lol.**

 **BarricadesDemons216: Yep. Lol, thanks for the review!**

 **Zenyatta: Thank you so much!**

 **Gizzygirl12: Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it :)**

 **MARSHMELLOWTOASTIE: Wow, thank you! I'm super honored, and welcome aboard for the crazy ride that is my fanfiction!**

 **gigi7899: LOL. Here ya go!**

* * *

Twenty: Persuasion

Paradox stayed in her quarters for what felt like forever, before she felt the startling ping in her helm. It was the signal for her patrol round; and she was late. With a sigh, she uncurled her legs from her chassis, and the violet femme dragged herself towards the door, still feeling the spark-gnawing guilt. She wasn't surprised when the hatch opened, she figured he'd unlocked a long time ago, but after a while she gave up, and just went to her berth to rest. She was supposed to go visit Nightblade, the medic is probably wondering where she was, but she couldn't find the motivation in herself to continue with her original plan. Not when the first step had turned out so disastrously.

After the tedious and uneventful patrol round, she turned in her report, and made her way to the training room; she hadn't been there in a while and she still had some energy to burn. She had just finished pounding the slag out of a dummy, which was littered in scratches thanks to her claws, but she had made sure that they didn't cut deep enough to tear it to pieces. There was only so many dummies to spar with, especially since her usual sparring partner was ignoring and avoiding her.

That only fueled more irritation and she landed another vicious blow to the dummy with an almost feral cry. For once, she wished she could be like Soundwave. She wished she could shut her emotions down, and be an unfeeling, detached empty shell like he was. She wished that she didn't care or feel _everything_ so vividly with emotion. But she knew deep down she never could. She had tried to be calculative with him not long ago and look where that had gotten her; reduced to tears.

Gritting her denta, she twisted her frame, landing a swift kick to the dummy. She couldn't think about Soundwave right now, even if that was all that was swirling in her spark. She had other things to worry about, _bigger_ things to worry about. Tops was still missing and this mystery was nowhere near solved.

The door to the training room she could've sworn she locked open, and she faltered slightly in her punch. Her sensors on her doorwings told her that someone was in the room, but she didn't turn around to see. Not until she heard that voice;

"I've heard you've been looking for me."

This time, she stopped cold. Her whole chassis had seized up with momentary shock, before she turned around again, and was face to face with those eerie purple optics. Pyro had grinned down on her in that uncanny way he did as he loomed over her. His presence was almost suffocating.

She still couldn't clear the shock out of her voice, "P-Pyro?"

The blue mech looked slightly taken aback, but was quick to hide it with another sinister grin. "That's interesting. I don't remember ever mentioning my designation."

"I asked around." Paradox shrugged, going for nonchalance as she crossed her arms over her chassis.

"I did too," He intoned with a thoughtful look, pacing around her in a slow, unnerving way that made her armor crawl. She stood there, as casual as she could, watching his every move sharply. Yes, she was looking for Pyro, but she didn't expect him to suddenly appear in the training room. Did that meant that he had hacked the locks? She pushed the thought away for another time. "A good friend of mine from the Communications department had mentioned you were talking those little symbiotes." He cocked his helm, "Did you miss me, Para?"

"Not at all, sir." She answered wryly, "Maybe that friend of your's evaluation on the situation was inaccurate."

He shrugged off the spiteful comment, "Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, I'm here."

"I see that." She muttered, but internally her processors were racing. How was she even going to begin to question Pyro? He was just as calculating and manipulative as Soundwave, if not, even more.

"You look like you need a good spar," He said, with a small smirk, "Care for one?"

"I'm fine." She answered quickly.

"Oh come now Paradox, there's no need to be afraid. Unlike Soundwave, I don't intend to damage you after a spar."

Her spark flared in slight panic. _How would he know about that?_ Paradox narrowed her garnet optics at the dark blue mech. She didn't like that he knew things about her, it caught her off guard and it wasn't like she was already treading dangerous territory with him. If she wanted to get the information she needed, she would have to take control of this game. She can't let him keep shaking her up.

The violet femme glared at him. "I'm not afraid."

He lowered himself into a defensive position, "Then let's fight."

The spar had been strange. It was good and energizing, since the violet femme had a lot of pent up energy to get rid of, but it also felt off. It wasn't like the friendly spars between Retrobeam or Bluestreak. And it certainly wasn't the intense, hardcore spars with Soundwave either. It was tense and leery. But Paradox did manage to use this opportunity to asses her opponent. Pyro was much more of a skilled fighter than she originally thought he was, but that shouldn't surprise her. He worked in the Kaonian black markets, created dangerous concoctions, and dealt out weapons of mass destruction.

He was agile, and fast for a mech with such bulky armor, but Paradox manage to find some weaknesses. His biggest one was that he relied too heavily on his pedes, which where powerful and other than his chassis, carried most of the bulk in his armor. If she could find a way to get him off balanced for even a split nanoklik, she could defeat him. Another one was the lack of stronger armor around his neck cables. Yes, he was tall, but it could still be an area of danger, especially since he liked to crouch low and deliver powerful blows through his pedes.

"You're a very excellent fighter, Paradox." He commented, once the fight had been over. His engine was whirring softly from the effort, but other than that, he showed no signs of exhaust.

Other than some heavier breathing, neither was she. "I know, sir."

"Why aren't you a front-liner? You'd do a pit of a lot of damage." He wondered.

Paradox shrugged, looking at her claws, "Maybe because I'm a femme." She didn't have to elaborate, Pyro knew what she was insinuating.

He nodded in agreement, "All the more reason to leave the Decepticon ranks and do something more useful with your talents."

"Why do you try so hard to persuade me, Pyro?" She asked, glancing up from her claws.

The blue mech simply shrugged, admiring one of the swords hung up on the near wall, "It bothers me to see talent wasted. Especially if I could have better use for it."

The answer didn't sit well with her, but she had to ignore the ominous churn in her tanks. If she was going to play this game, then maybe she could let Pyro think he won. As much as she hated to admit to herself, she was beginning to run low on time. Maybe this infatuation was the thing she needed to start getting some real answers. Maybe this was exactly what she needed to gain his trust, and learn what was really behind the serum.

Paradox, who had been leaning against the wall, pushed herself off and walked with as much confidence as she could muster. She stopped only inches away from him, remembering how Soundwave always did that for intimidation. But she wasn't going for intimidation...she was going for something a little more intimate. It had caused the reaction she wanted, as Pyro's amethyst optics brightened in greedy anticipation. Yes, he was clearly infatuated with her.

She could use this.

"I've been thinking about what you said to me a couple of cycles ago," She said, and the violet femme was a little surprised herself at the sly and almost mischievous edge her tone took, "About the proposition in the black markets."

His optics brightened even more, "Oh?"

She nodded, her processors still swirling with this wild decision. But she had to focus, if she was going to play her cards right. Pyro might like her, but he's not a fool. "Maybe the Decepticons aren't what I was looking for. Maybe it was the money after all."

He arched an optic ridge dubiously, "You seemed so offended by my suggestion then."

Paradox rolled her optics, "Maybe I'm tired of being treated poorly just because I'm a femme. You're right; I have the skills, and I'm only wasting them here. You said it yourself; how could you sit and watch talent be wasted?"

He grinned slowly, "You surprised me Paradox. I thought it would take more convincing for you to finally see things my way."

Her stare hardened, "What do you mean by that?"

She didn't like the way his servo ran down her thigh-plating. She wasn't even aware that she was close enough for him to reach out and touch her, so she backed away quickly.

"Not in the way you're thinking, sweetspark." He murmured, but instead of it being reassuring, it sounded devious and menacing. She suppressed a shiver.

"So what do you want me to do?" She asked firmly, tilting her helm to the side.

Pyro's optics darted to her exposed neck for a few moments, before he looked back up the violet femme. "It's a simple job; a little heist."

A heist? That definitely interested Paradox, "What am I stealing?"

"Isn't the better question, _who_ are you stealing from?" He smirked.

She stared at him, biting her lip-plates to hide her grimace, "Of course, sir."

"Just a little competition of mine, " He answered vaguely, "He's developed a substance I'm rather in dire need of, it's called Red X."

It was Paradox's turn to raise an optic ridge, "Red X?" She's never heard of that drug before.

"Don't worry about the details," He said dismissively, and she scowled when he turned away to grab something out of his subspace. It was an obsidian colored chip, she had known this. It had probably had all the information she needed to pull of the heist. "Just get this for me, and you'll be walking into a large sum of credits after."

The violet femme stared at the chip for a second, before slowly taking it out of the blue mech's hands, and subspacing it. She looked up into those sinister purple optics of his, and had to remind herself not to freeze in terror as a coldness washed over her. She didn't want to be in here with him anymore, she didn't like the way he kept staring at her. She just wanted to get information, and get out. Hopefully, this 'Red X' would do the trick.

"I'm still not out of the troops," She said, leaning away from him and walking towards the door, "This is just experimentation."

He gave a short chuckle, "I figured that as much. Enjoy."

She had walked through the doors, her spark heavier than ever.

* * *

 **Looks like Para's going on a heist, that should be fun. Hmmm, anyone wonder why Pyro's suddenly appeared again? Once again guys thank you so much for reading, and putting up with my long-ass disappearances. I really appreciate it and I hope to read your reviews!**


	21. Coup De Foudre (pt 1)

**One of these days I swear I'm going to get it together. Also, I'm changing the day I update this story since it's summer time now. I don't know which day it'll be now, but I'll figure it out. I am dividing this into two parts because I know that this is going to be long, and lots of slag is gonna go down so I don't want it to be too overwhelming.**

* * *

Twenty-One: Coup De Foudre

Part One

Paradox onlined from recharge early the next cycle, the heavy feeling still in her chassis, but she pushed it away as she stood up and unsubspaced the onyx colored chip and held it in her digits. She already knew what was on it, she downloaded the information as soon as she returned to her quarters last night. She knew that she would need to get to the black markets to find this Red X, and she would be looking for a mech in particular named Hardwire. She knew the routes, information on this mech, and just about everything else she would need for this mission. It just didn't feel real...until she held it in her digits.

What was she thinking? She was an Autobot for Primus' sakes. An Autobot who was about to go somewhere highly un-Autobot like and steal some highly un-Autobot like substances for a scientist with some highly un-Autobot like morals. In fact, she doubted the maniacal scientist had any morals at all. But here she was, going against everything she believed to be right, in hopes of getting closer to unraveling the mystery that drifted on this eerie warship like fog. It was just her luck that she was off rotation today, so she wouldn't have to worry about making an excuse for work.

But she did find herself heading in the direction of the Med Bay, if only because she forgot to see Nightblade the other cycle. But to her disappointment, the hatches were locked and sealed shut. Confused, she peered around the slightly translucent walls, wondering if the blue medic was in there. The lights weren't on, and the automatics on the hatches were off, Nightblade must not have checked in yet.

With a sigh, she pulled out a datapad and wrote a quick note to her, looking around to find a good place to hide it. Once she found one, she slipped it under and hopped that the blue medic would be keen enough to pick up on it, before taking another deep breath and walked towards the ramp for the exit. She was glad she was up early, no one was in the halls and it felt more like a ghost town than a warship. She silently crept past the docks and down the ramps before being exposed to the natural air. The sky was still dark out, slowly tinting lighter as it reached to horizon. All around her was the rough, mountainous terrain of the Kaon region. Usually she would be astounded by the jagged mountain ranges that curved all around the region, and the scarlet sand and dirt that blanketed the grounds. But now, without the sun to light these red mountains, the darkness casted macabre shadows over the land, and the terrain seemed more like sharp, rigid claws, enclosing over everything around it.

"Thought I'd find you here." That same deep, bone-chilling voice spoke up from behind her.

The violet femme's spark momentarily leapt into her throat, and before her protocols kicked and she turned around with a blade in her servo, ready to slice whatever threat she faced to pieces. Not only an astrosecond later did she realize that it was Pyro, and even though he _was_ a threat, she had no reason to pounce on him. So instead, she settled on glaring at him while he chuckled quietly at her reaction. Paradox couldn't for the life of her understand why this mech found such amusement in creeping up on her all the time.

"What do you want?" She gritted through her denta, trying to suppress the shock and calm her racing spark.

His amethyst optics glinted insidiously in the darkness, "I'd thought it would be nice to see you off, my little Para."

 _I'm not your little anything,_ She grimaced internally. But rolled her eyes and looked back at the terrain, "How touching."

"And to mention something that I hadn't included on the chip," Pyro added, and she turned to give him her attention, "When you get down there, let them know that I sent you."

She raised an optic ridge inquisitively, "Why?"

Pyro grinned, "I'm well known and respected in the business. Besides, that's the only way they won't kill you immediately, considering the fact that you're an outsider and all."

Her garnet optics widened, _"What?!"_

Pyro's grin stretched wider, "Well, it wouldn't be the black markets if every fool knew about it and where to find it. My designation is the only chance you have of getting in," And then he leaned in, his voice dropping a couple of octaves, "So don't forget it." She swallowed hard, but nodded. Pyro nodded in return, stepping back, "I'll see you in twelve joors."

Paradox nodded, before transforming down into her bi-pedal mode, and racing out across the red desert.

* * *

The inner city of Kaon was just as captivating as it was the first time she stepped foot into it. It was still crowded, even at this hour. The vendors were just now opening up shops, restocking their goods and supplies while some bots were already up looking around. _Oh well, the early bird gets the worm._ Paradox navigated through the narrow streets, due to her memory of before, and she passed by the large curved citadel that supposedly stood at the center of Kaon. She maneuvered covertly, making sure to keep a low cover, since this wasn't an official mission, and if she was caught by and Decepticon soldiers in the city, she would most likely have to answer to Soundwave, since he was also in charge of security. And the last thing she wanted to do on this planet is see Soundwave, even if her spark burns in her chassis at the thought of him.

A couple of blocks later, and she finally reached her destination, looking up at the tall metal building that stretched like a "U" around a statue of the last governor of Kaon. This statue, was of course, torn down with only the foundations of it remaining in place. Paradox didn't know a lot about the black markets, before she came to Kaon she assumed that they were just dreadful rumors. But what she did know from stories were that they had been secretly running the city for a long time, way before Megatron rose to power. And it was ironic of course, that the black market rings took place, right below the city hall of Kaon. Or at least, it _was_ the city hall.

The building has been abandoned for almost two decacycles now, and nobody dared to go near it. But the violet femme got in easily enough through a door with old, rusted hinges and slipped into the dark, hollow halls. Despite the Decepticons vicious takeover of the Kaon government, the rooms in city hall remained quite nice. Even the biggest room; the meeting room, where a long table that stood high on a lifted stage stretched around the room where the officials would sit still remained intact. Paradox peered around the large room curiously, using her advanced night-vision settings, her doorwings arched high on her shoulder-plates, straining for any sounds or clues to give away the entrance. There was nothing.

She frowned, looking around a couple more times while running as many scans as she could across the weary building. But just as it seemed that all hope was lost, she picked up on something that glimmered briefly in the darkness. It was a microphone, that was centered right in the middle of the large table, meant for the governor of Kaon to speak in. Something about this microphone was off though, and as the violet femme walked closer to it, the more she could feel it. There was no light in this room, there should be no way for the metallic microphone to reflect, and even if it could, it has been sitting here untouched by the elements which the building was exposed to from lack of maintenance. The metal everywhere was dark, slowly rusting, while the microphone was as shiny as ever. Paradox frowned as she walked up to the head of the table, peering at it closely. They were made from the same metal...why hasn't it began to rust yet?

Without another thought she reached out to touch it, and jumped from the quick rush of electricity that ran through her digits before the room began to shake. A low grumble thundered the dead silence as the wall on the other side creaked and groaned as it shifted opening up to reveal a passageway.

"Tunnels," She muttered, once the rumbling stopped, "It's always secret tunnels with these mechs."

She walked through the tunnels, her blade extracted from her subspace, just incase. She hadn't forgotten Pyro's warning about her being an 'outsider'. Her doorwings stretched to its limits with monitoring sound and feeding her enough data to tell her that no one else was in the passage way. But she didn't put her weapon back, if anything, she only gripped it tighter and took another breath before entering the tunnel. If she thought it was dark in city hall, it was truly nothing compared to the inky darkness that descended upon her in this tunnel. The night-vision almost wasn't enough, and she had to inflate her armor enough for her biolights to shine through and help with the lighting. Even though her optics glowed a menacing red, her biolights gave off a soft shade of royal blue. Just like her optics were when she was in Iacon.

But her armor clamped together when she sensed another spark signature, and her frame stiffened immediately, claws twitching to fight as she readied herself. She crouched down low, listening to pick up on any sound.

"Foolish femme," a voice boomed out, "I only exposed myself to you because I knew you were coming. There's no use to try and pull an attack on me."

Paradox didn't recognize the voice, and she was wary, but it seemed she had no other choice. With a weak sigh, she sprouted up from her hiding place, and locked gazes with the fiery orange optics in front of her. She couldn't see much about the mech, other than that he was big, but that didn't come to a surprise to her because almost every mech was bigger than her. But size didn't matter; she'd put up a fight if she had too and she'd put up a pit of a good fight. That is why she kept her blade just out of sight of the bigger mech's view.

The mech's orange gaze narrowed, "Who sent you here, outsider?"

"Pyro." She said, making sure her voice was loud and firm to convey that she wasn't intimidated.

His optics widened briefly, before he nodded and turned around, more sounds of the walls grumbling filled her audio receptors. Another room was revealed, this one filled with dim, neon light. Paradox glanced at the big mech with orange optics again, who nodded in the direction of the open door silently. She entered without another thought, hearing the sounds of many mechs speaking. Her spark thrummed louder than before, and she wondered with dread what she was going to encounter next.

It was a chasm, full of mechs in every direction. In some ways, it reminded her of the tunnels for orientation into the Decepticon troops. She tried not to stare too much, but it was too hard not to. So many things were going on at once; there were auctions held at every corner, some selling off what looked to be mass weapons of destruction, drugs, rare animals, strange organic species, and even other Cybertronians. She couldn't believe that one, and had to blink several times to make sure what she was seeing was true.

They were _trafficking_. Three terrified femmes that didn't look much older than her, standing there on a platform with chains on their wrists and roped tied around their mouths to keep them shut. While another mech stood and bid over them. _This was worse than a fragging pleasure house!_

Anger boiled up quickly inside her, but she had to force herself to push it to the side and remember her mission. The real reason why she was here in the first place; Red X. So with much hatred, she had to force herself to tear her gaze away from the femmes, and keep pushing through the crowd. So far, she was doing good. It seemed no one realized that she was an outsider. Now, all she had to do was find Hardwire, who was supposedly in charge of the controlled substances in the rings. But where would she start? This place was enormous. Asking around was too risky, and her cover would be blown immediately. But what else could she do?

She stepped out of the way, just in time to avoiding getting slammed into by a drunk mech. He eyed the violet femme, his red optics brightening at the sight of her and she internally rolled her own.

"I haven't seen you around here," He slurred, and Paradox grimaced, "You must be a new catch."

He probably thinks she is a pleasure femme. Paradox shook her helm, and turned, obviously giving off that she was not interested. And, to no one's surprise, the mech became persisted. He had slurred something else, but she ignored it, only reacting when he leaned down to touch one of her wings. She tensed up immediately, brandishing her blade again as she grabbed him by his midsection, and with all her force slammed him against the wall, with the blade pressed fatally close to his throat cables. Her optics burned with unadulterated irritation and hatred as she gave him her most darkest, threatening glare.

"Hey! What the fra-" His protest was quickly cut off by her pressing the blade deeper. And instead he made an uncomfortable spluttering noise.

"I'm only going to tell you this once, so get it through your thick helm you two-bit fragger," She hissed darkly, "I am _not_ a pleasure bot. Do not approach me again." and with that, she threw him to the ground, where he coughed loudly. Loud enough to gather a few optics.

She cursed lowly again, slipping into the crowd again before anyone could get to her. She needed to stop letting her emotions get to her, before she frags this up majorly. She stayed in between the crowds, shoving herself around large enough mechs to hide her even if the constant contact with her doorwings drove her insane. It wasn't until the sight of eerily glowing chemicals that looked similar to the canisters both Shockwave and Pyro had pulled her out of the current, and drew her closer to the two mechs who were speaking.

"...talkin' about somethin' big, and it's goin' down tonight." One voice with a thick Polyhexian accent muttered.

"Really?" The other one asked, he was from Kaon.

They were speaking so quietly, she had to strain her audio receptors to pick up anything.

"...all part of the plan...take the materials...to Tarn-"

Was all she heard, before a servo had gripped her shoulder plating rather violently. A surprised yelped had escaped her mouth before she was turned around forcefully to face the mech who she had threatened earlier. His dark optics were now bright with grim satisfaction as he smirked down at her, and Paradox snarled at him, pulling out her blade, only seconds away from slicing his-

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, little femme." A harsh, raspy voice invaded her audio receptors and sent a shiver down her strut. She snapped her gaze in the direction of the voice, and her optics widened with a look that was mixed between shock and horror. She recognized the mech with cold, piercing red optics, and thick black armor. His size could rival Optimus, even Megatron. And if that wasn't intimidating enough, then the fact that his sharp fangs were twisted into a crooked smile surely did.

It was Hardwire.

 _Frag._

* * *

 **Told ya slag was gonna go down, and we're just getting started too. Lol, thank you for reading, make sure to review!**


	22. Coup De Foudre (pt 2)

**Because I didn't answer reviews last chapter:**

 **Klenda: Yeah, it really is becoming a big struggle for her, her moral character now that she's gotten mixed up with Soundwave. I'm glad you're interested, and I guess you'll have to stick around to see. Lol, Frenzy and Rumble intervening is always fun to write.**

 **BarricadesDemon216: Thank you! You'll find out now!**

 **MARSHMELLOWTOASTIE: Thank you so much. I'm glad you pointed that out because Para will definitely be using more of her doorwings (hint). And yeah, I really wanted to spend a little time on some history about the settings I put her in pre-war era because I thought it be interesting to add things there that I'd imagine Kaon to be like. I'll definitely put in more from time to time :)**

 **Reader-Animator-Writer: Yeah, I'm working on closing these huge gaps between chapters lol. Oh, the slag is just getting started ;) And yeah, you've got a point there. I'm glad you're hooked, lol thank you for reading this story!**

 **quantumleap13: Thank you!**

 **SolusPrimeLightblast: Thank you as well, and here you go!**

* * *

Twenty-Two: Coup De Foudre

Part Two

Before she knew what happened next, her arms were grabbed roughly, the blades retracted automatically as her spinal strut was pressed up against the mech who grabbed her earlier's front. She gritted her denta, wrangling fiercely in his grip for a moment, before she realized that it was useless and gave in with a frustrated sigh.

"Well," He announced in that raspy voice of his, raising a thin, spiky optic ridge, "What do we have here?"

Well, she was surrounded, with a ring of mechs circling around her and an enormous, charcoal painted one in the middle, staring her down with that gruesome grin on his faceplates. A moment of silence passed by before Paradox realize that it wasn't a rhetorical question and Hardwire actually wanted to know who she was. Her processors were still spinning, as she stared in horror/awe at the big mech.

"I'm waiting, little femme." He rasped, his crimson optics gleaming.

Paradox stiffened at the abrupt amount of pressure that was put on her forearms as the mech that was still holding her squeezed; a subtle warning to answer his question. So, with her processors still spinning, she blurted out, "P-Prodigy."

"Prodigy?" He repeated, stroking the long metal shards that stuck out on the edges of his faceplates, "Afraid I've never heard that designation before. These mechs don't take kindly to outsiders."

"I'm not an outsider," She spoke up quickly, "I'm here for Pyro."

Hardwire's optics flashed in surprise, and she could feel the grip of the mech who had her slacken for an astro second. All of the mechs around her reacted, and she couldn't imagine herself ever in her life being so thankful for Pyro than she did right now. Hardwire nodded, and the mech's vice-like grip was released as he stepped back. The violet femme wasn't even given enough time to feel relieved that the pressure was off of her as the big mech approached her. Her whole frame stiffened in panic, and she quickly glanced around again, hoping for maybe an opening in the crowd where she could dash through. But it was silent in the rinks, everyone's attention drawn to the scene she created.

 _Double frag._

"Well, why didn't you start with that?" Hardwire asked, barking out a laugh that made her spark jump. "I've known that bastard for vorns. Never did like to make many appearances, always stayed cooped up in that little laboratory of his," Hardwire shook his helm, "So, I'm assuming he's in need of some more supplies, eh?"

Paradox stared for another long moment, before snapping out of her confusion and nodded, "Y-Yes, of course." She didn't know that Pyro and him were close.

Hardwire stared her down for another unnerving moment, before finally nodding, "Then, follow me."

The crowd had parted as the words left his lip-plates, and he turned around, servos folded behind his back as he made his way through. Paradox hesitantly followed him, noticing how a couple of mechs fell into step behind her, while the rest of the crowd evaporated and went back to their sinister dealings. She made sure to keep her doorwings straight and stiff, straining for anymore conversations as he led her to a hatch that no surprise, opened up to another tunnel.

"I've heard that him and that spider femme's been working on something big with the Lord Protector," Hardwire said, seeming to speak out of nowhere since his armor blended in with the dimmed tunnels, the only thing that glowed were his optics as he turned to glance at her, "Is that true?"

 _That's what I'm trying to figure out._ "Yes." She answered.

"Hmph, first Shockwave, and now Pyro. It must be something exciting if he's gathering up the best mad scientist in the black markets to do his bidding."

She wasn't sure if he was thinking out loud or talking to her, but she chose not to reply. Instead she watched as he typed in another passcode that opened up to a room that was so bright she flinched and had to re-adjust her optics. It was a stark contrast to the dim, dark rooms and tunnels she'd been traveling in so far. The rooms were painted a bright white, and had a distinctly antiseptic scent that reminded her of Ratchet's med bay.

Unlike Pyro's lab, which was dark and kind of secluded, Hardwire's was large and spacious with large doors and translucent walls so you could see inside what was happening in each room. So many labs and experiments were going on around her, she felt overwhelmed again like she did when she entered the rinks of the markets. One particular room caught her eye; three mechs with masks on were standing around a metal table, with a floating purple object in the shape of a diamond lay in the middle. They were observing it, taking notes on it. Something about it threw her off...it looked almost like a spark.

"See anything you like?" Hardwire asked with a chagrin grin, noticing Paradox's slight fascination with the floating object.

"Is that a...a spark?" She asked quietly. The lab station passed and she turned to look at Hardwire.

The big, black mech gave a shrug, "Somewhat of one. We're almost on the breakthrough of designing synthetic sparks, but that's a discussion for another time."

Actually, that was pretty alarming and Paradox would've liked to known more about it. But she feared questioning it too much would be suspicious, so she just nodded and continued glancing around. Many employees walked up and down the halls, nodding and greeting Hardwire as they went. The obsidian mech turned a right, and she noticed that these walls weren't translucent at all. And the doors were shut, with passcodes on them.

 _This must be where the secret chemicals are kept. Maybe even Red X._ She thought to herself, as they turned around and he walked up to the first metal door on the right. It opened to reveal a large storage room with crates upon crates stacked on top of each other. Paradox looked around for only a few moments, stopping in the middle of the room as Hardwire peered at each crate carefully. There were glyphs written on them in red ink, but it wasn't standard Cybertronian, so she couldn't read them. The large obsidian mech finally stopped at a crate towards the end of one section, and pulled it out, releasing a cloud of mist. She gave another involuntary shiver.

"Like to keep them cool." He explained offhandedly as he reached in with one large servo and pulled out a few dials of concentrated yellow liquid, "This should be enough for the crazy bastard, right?"

"I think so." She mumbled, with a nod.

Hardwire gazed at her wearily, "Think you can fit all these in your subspace, Prodigy?"

Paradox was slightly thrown off by the way he addressed her, before she remembered that was the name she'd use for herself. She nodded as she watched the mech leaned closer to hand her the chemicals, but the transaction was interrupted by low rumbling sounds as a large _boom,_ and then a tremor passed through the laboratory. It was strong enough to have the violet femme collapse to the ground, her servos the only thing that kept her face-plates from slamming straight onto the unforgiving ground. It was strong enough to send her frame shaking and her circuits buzzing, and the lights above flickering. Hardwire let out something between a growl and a surprised shout, as the quaking went on for another moment, his fist clenched so hard around the crate that it left a dent, but he still stood.

As soon as the rumbling stopped, there was silence.

And then there was the sound of a piercing alarm going off. The violet femme stiffened, before retracting her blades, as Hardwire's red optics hardened as he put the chemicals back.

"What the _frag_ was that?!" Paradox demanded firmly.

Her first thought was that maybe it was an accident, but almost as fast as the rumbling went away and the sirens appeared, there were the sounds of cannon-fire. Clearly, this was an attack of some sort.

"How dare someone try to break into _my_ lab." He snarled in his deep, raspy voice that sent a shiver through the small femme's frame. "Excuse me," He said, as he made his way back to their entrance, a smaller green mech with light optics was at the door.

"Sir, the Xenomenthium has been taken!"

Suddenly, fragments of a conversation came back to Paradox.

 _"...talkin' bout something big, it's goin down tonight..."_

 _"...all part of the plan, take the materials to Tarn..."_

Primus. She can never catch a break, could she?

Hardwire snarled again, barking out orders to the few mechs who've gathered before shutting the door, right on Paradox. She let out a sound of protest, pounding her clenched servos against the hatch when she heard the locking mechanism click into place. Grimacing, she used one of her blades to try and slice the door, but it was sealed shut and too strong to break. With a frustrated growl, she kicked a stool that was near the hatch, sending it across the storage room, before pacing as she thought of a way out. The sirens blared in the background, putting a strain on her audio receptors, and quite frankly, made it hard to concentrate.

"Okay, think Para," She murmured to herself as she paced, "How the slag do I get out of here?" She froze in her pacing, as her doorwings picked up on a sound.

It was barely audible, drowned out by the raging alarms, but she could hear the slight hum of a machine. She followed the sound up to a vent, that was just above the section Hardwire and herself were previously standing near. The vent was blasting AC. _Well, he did say he liked to keep them cooled,_ she thought as she immediately went to use to stool to hike herself up the columns of crates, hooking her servos onto the ledges until she was within arms-reach of the vent. The only problem was...the vent was entirely too small. How was she going to get herself inside?

She pulled out one of her blades, using them to un-twist the screws and watched as they fell out before the filter quickly followed.

 _Now, about the size..._

She could hear the sounds of blasters being fired, and angry shouts outside the hatch, and she gritted her denta as she frantically looked around for anything to help her. She could probably use her blades to tear a hole, but if the ceiling was made out of the same metal as the hatch then it would take a lot of time, and time wasn't something she had on her side unfortunately. She needed something to speed up the process.

She bent down, reading the red glyphs written neatly on the crates, her processors whirling as she tried to decipher what they meant. Luckily for her, there was one crate, towards the end of the section, that she could actually read. And she only recognized it because she remembered seeing this in Nightblade's bay, and asking about it before; _liquid nitrogen._

Paradox didn't know much about the stuff, but what she _did_ know that it was very cold. Cold enough to crack metal, even Cybertronium. She opened the crate, pulling out the small tube that was inside and releasing it, watching the small mist clouds appear as she poured it around the edges of the vent, making sure none of it dripped on her as she did. Once she saw the metal began to crack, she took her blade and slashed across it in quick, sharp strides. She slashed till what felt like forever, before the chunk of metal finally separated from the wall, and fell with a heavy thud. With a flash of a grin, she crawled inside, finding herself immersed into darkness again as she crawled in which she hoped was the right direction.

It felt like she'd been crawling around for hours, when she heard the sounds of muffled male voices below.

 _"Hurry up Goldfang! We gotta go before he finds us!"_

 _"Shut up! Where did he say he'd meet us?"_

 _"At central station."_

Central Station; that was the only working transportation system left in Kaon. It was controlled largely by Decepticons, and was used now more for shipping weapons and other materials instead of Cybertronians. But Paradox knew where it was, only a few blocks away from the old city hall. She heard the sound of someone shouting after them, and the telltale sounds of blaster fire as shots were exchanged. The battle was brief, because someone had cried out (Paradox believed because they were shot) and then two pedesteps clumsily hurried forward.

She couldn't let them get away, she needed to follow them. So, with her doorwings working on high gear, she tracked the footsteps, walking along in the inky darkness as she monitored their heavy breaths and pedesteps. Half of her processor was dedicated to keeping track of them while she crawled, while the other half tried to come up with a way for her to get out of the vent. She jolted at the sound of another loud scream; this one a scream of agony. They'd been ambushed again, and one of them had been hit.

 _"Goldfang!"_ The other one cried out.

Shots rang out again, and her processors spun as she tried to figure out what was going on down below.

 _"Ah Zephyr, so it was you who masterminded this foolish coup,"_ She recognized that dreadful, raspy voice. It was Hardwire. _"Using explosives to break into my special storage rooms?"_ He tsked, and she could imagine him shaking his helm as he loomed over the mech, _"So messy, so premature. The least you idiots could've done is shut down the cameras so that we couldn't track you so easily. Oh well, in the end...I still **win**."_

She heard the sounds of metal tearing against metal, and cringed as she could only imagine what horrible death the thief had to endure. In a terrifying way, it reminded her of the interrogation with Megatron in the Decepticon control center. A violent shiver ran through her frame, and she was actually glad that she was still trapped in darkness.

 _"What should we do with them?"_ Another voice murmured, probably traumatized by the murder he'd witness.

Hardwire scoffed coldly, _"Melt them. I'm sure we could find a better use for these treacherous frames."_

As much as his words made her grimace, she knew that she couldn't let him get away. But she lost track of his voice, it seemed to be going off in different directions and his pedesteps were just as confusing. _What is going on now?_ Paradox thought exasperatedly, still crawling on her knee-plates. But when her servo moved, she didn't make contact with the cold metal surface of the vent, she made contact with nothing. It was a drop, and she managed to catch herself before she fell over. After a few spark-pounding moments, she leaned slightly over the edge, peering into what seemed like an endless abyss of darkness. Or at least it was, until a machine suddenly flickered to life, lighting up the hole just enough to realize it wasn't a hole in the vent system, but a shaft. And that shaft had two, enormous spinning blades at the bottom. She sat back on her heels with an embittered sigh.

"This just keeps getting better and better." She murmured sarcastically, before an idea popped into her mind.

She unsubspaced the blade that she had used to cut into the ceiling, and leaned over the edge again. She wouldn't be able to stop both of gigantic, sharp spinning blades, but maybe she could jam one of them so she could safely get down. There was a hatch on the side of the left wind machine. So she aimed for the right machine, launching her blade with such precision that Retrobeam would've been proud of her. There was an awful sound that filled the air, much like the sound of metal shredding into metal as the fan came to a screeching stop. Then the violet femme hooked her claws into the ledge of the drop-off point, before slowly making her way down, trying her best not to be thrown off balance by the powerful wind the machine on the left was still generating.

She kicked the hatch with all her might, busting down the door and she climbed through. She was in another room, red and yellow lights were flashing even though the sirens had been cut off. From all the machinery and control panels surrounding her, this looked like the engineering room. The violet femme froze at the sounds of pedesteps again, these were different from Hardwire's. Someone was mumbling to themselves as the hatch flashed green and they entered the room, holding a map of schematics for something, and a tool box. The gray-looking mech looked up a moment too late.

"Hey, you're not supposed to be in here! Who are yo-"

Paradox swept low to the ground, knocking him off of his pedes before quickly climbing on top of him and wounding her arm up. One quick, swift punch between the optics and he was unconscious. The schematics rolled out of his limp servo, and she picked it up, unrolling the thing so that she could look at it. It was just the schematics of the wind machine she broke. With a roll of her optics, she left it next to the unconscious mech, before slipping past the still closing hatch.

The hallways were blinking that same red and yellow light, and since she was in the darkness for so long the bright whiteness nearly blinded her. Quickly adjusting her optics to the newfound brightness, she began running in the direction away from the engineering room. She wasn't sure where she was going, and she _still_ needed to find the Red X. She didn't slow down until she saw a group of employees, rushing in her direction. They didn't even seem to stop to look at her.

"Hey. Hey!" She said, projecting her voice to catch the last mech on the right's attention.

He glared at her with red optics, "What do you want?"

Quickly, her tone switched as she made a face that she hoped looked panicked, "What's going on? One moment everything was okay and then suddenly there were sirens and-"

"There's been an ambush," The same mech answered in a stiff tone, "But the intruder has been dealt with." He then seemed to stop and actually look at her, "What station do you belong in, femme?"

Paradox thought quickly, "Engineering. I was just called to fix the AC unit."

The mech seemed to nod after a moment, "Well, all staff has been told to report to the main hall. The boss has some news to tell us."

"Right." Paradox nodded, quickly falling in line with the mechs as they hurried down the hall.

Finally, someone turned off the lights.

* * *

 **So I decided to break it into three parts instead of two because this chapter was taking long enough as it was and I wanted to get at least this part out for you guys. Thanks for reading, and please excuse any mistakes, especially towards the end. I think I've decided I'll update every-other Fridays now that my first quarter is done with and I can actually breathe again. Until next time.**


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